Cross-cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of a Structured Interview for Psychiatric Assessment

Psychiatric disorders are a significant cause of long-term disability and mortality. Although treatment is available, diagnostic accuracy is critical to provide adequate evidence-based treatment and to develop novel therapies. To inform the diagnostic process during clinical interviews, the use of validated assessment measures, including self-report questionnaires and structured interviews, is highly recommended. However, such instruments must have excellent psychometric properties, particularly regarding reliability and validity, to ensure accurate and interpretable data for each individual. Furthermore, applying an instrument in a new country, context, or language requires a formal cultural adaptation. This process is mandatory to ensure that the findings from the adapted version are equivalent to those of the original questionnaire. Here, we describe a detailed protocol for cultural adaptation and comprehensive psychometric validation of a psychometric instrument. Specifically, we outline the steps for selecting the measure, conducting the experimental procedures, and performing statistical analyses required to establish the instrument's psychometric properties, including reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity for diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. Our primary purpose is to present a transparent, standardized method for culturally adapting and validating psychometric instruments. Such a procedure helps minimize confounding factors and undesired variability in future applications and research. We expect that this protocol, including a range of empirically supported methods, will be useful in research settings for the cultural adaptation of psychometric instruments for psychiatric assessment.