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The pathways between differentiation of self and health remain only partly elucidated. This cross‐cultural study sought to test Bowen's hypothesis about the associations between differentiation, stressful life events, and physical and psychological health, in a sample of 466 Spanish adults. Results show that people with higher levels of differentiation were less prone to physical ailments (e.g., heart disease, cancer, or blood disorders) and psychological symptoms (e.g., depression or anxiety). Further, differentiation mediated the association between stress (i.e., perceived negativity of stress in the past year and number of stressful events across the lifetime) and physical and psychological health. The current research provides cross‐cultural empirical evidence for the links between differentiation and mind and body health in a Mediterranean culture.

This study introduces the Spanish Differentiation of Self Inventory(S-DSI) version, a 26 item measure, consisting of 2 subscales-Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Cutoff-focusing on adults (ages 25+) and their significant relationships, including current relations with family of origin.Translation of DSI into Spanish was conducted using a back translation method, with two independent teams for translation into Spanish and back-translation into English. A sample of 1047 adult men and women (living in Spain, native Spanish speakers) completed the Spanish-DSI scale and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on a randomly selected half of the sample, and results yielded a two subscalesolution that closely conformed with the original DSI's Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Cutoff scales. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis cross-validated the measure's factor structure in the remaining sample. Implications for cross-cultural research and culturally-informed study of Bowen theory in Spanish populations are further discussed. Keywords: cross-cultural research, family systems theory, Hispanic families, instrument validation, family assessment measure. ResumenEste trabajo presenta la versión española del Differentiation of Self Inventory (S-DSI), un instrumento de 26 ítems, con dos subescalas -Reactividad Emocional y Corte Emocional-, orientado a población adulta (mayores de 25 años) y al estudio de sus relaciones significativas, lo que incluye las relaciones con la familia de origen y las actuales. La traducción del DSI-R al español se realizó a través del método de traducción inversa, con dos equipos de traducción independientes para la traducción al español y la traducción inversa al inglés. Una muestra de 1047 mujeres y hombres adultos (residentes en España y con el español como lengua nativa) cumplimentaron la traducción española del DSI-R y un cuestionario sociodemográfico. Se llevó a cabo un análisis factorial exploratorio con la mitad de la muestra seleccionada al azar. Sus resultados conducen a un modelo de dos subescalas que corresponden en gran medida con las subescalas originales Emotional Reactivity y Emotional Cutoff del DSI-R. Los resultados del análisis factorial confirmatorio realizado con la otra mitad de la muestra corroboran esta estructura factorial. Se discuten finalmente las implicaciones para la investigación transcultural y para el estudio culturalmente fundamentado de la Teoría de Bowen en poblaciones de habla española.