Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and psychometric evaluation of the Danish version of the self-compassion scale in the general population and in a sub-population of patients with chronic pain

The study aims to translate and cross-culturally adapt the self-compassion scale (SCS) into the Danish language and evaluate its psychometric properties. Additionally, since self-compassion (SC) is becoming as an important factor in the management of mental health in patients with chronic pain, the SCS was tested in cohort of patients with chronic non-malignant pain. A dual panel approach was applied for linguistic and cross-cultural translation. Participants were recruited through social media and multidisciplinary pain centers in Denmark. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) verified test-retest reliability. To assess construct validity a model fit analysis was conducted through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Thirty-four individuals participated in the dual panel and verified that the Danish translation reflected the original English version. The test-retest (two-weeks) sample included 60 individuals and demonstrated an average ICC of 0.889 [95% CI 0.815-0.934]. The Smallest Detectable Change (SDC) revealed significant but non-clinically relevant differences between genders in both samples. Data from 761 individuals validated the SCS based on a six-factor construct. The psychometric properties verified the reliability of the Danish version. The present results suggest that an overall score can be used to describe the amount of SC in the background population, while the six subscale scores better capture nuances in patients with chronic pain. Overall, the Danish SCS was translated, cross-culturally adapted, and validated, the findings support the use of six-subscale scores in a clinical context.