Cultural challenges for adapting behavioral intervention frameworks: A critical examination from a cultural psychology perspective

There are increasing vocal concerns about the application of measurement invariance testing arguing that it is overly strict and arbitrary. We argue that invariance is not just a procedural hurdle but a substantive tool that enhances the understanding of psychological constructs across diverse populations and has important implications for both theory testing and theory development. First, we outline the importance of how invariance, in a broad sense, plays a role at all the major steps within a research cycle, involving both theoretical and methodological concerns. Second, we suggest a list of points linked to these invariance concerns that can benefit research reports to improve reliability, validity, and fairness. We see invariance as a crucial part of scientific inquiry and an informative tool for empirical research. We agree with Funder and Gardiner’s point that “Data are data,” but would like to add that invariance inquiries and their implications help making sense of the data and the underlying world.

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A Scoping Study of Cultural Adaptation Frameworks

Leung,

Sekar,

Madrigal

et al. 2024

Health Promotion Practice

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Translating evidence-based intervention in public health is important to improve health behaviors and other outcomes and reduce health disparities. Culturally adapting intervention is one approach to reaching different cultural groups. The goals of this paper were to compile definitions of program adaptations, identify processes and steps in cultural adaptations, and pose recommendations for future research related to cultural adaptations. We performed a scoping review of cultural adaptation frameworks or models for public health. Studies were coded for definitions of adaptation, cultural adaptation, other cultural concepts, process steps, community engagement, and public health topic. We found 15 frameworks that described cultural adaptation concepts and processes, and nine had varying definitions of cultural adaptations. All frameworks included tasks of information gathering about the community and developing a preliminary adapted program; over 50% had making refinements to the adapted program after some pilot testing. Only one framework mentioned the role of experts in the adaptation or enhancement process, and one mentioned dissemination. Thirteen articles (86.7%) reported the inclusion of community engagement in the adaptation process. These data present key definitions related to cultural adaptation and themes related to the process of cultural adaptation. We also report on key steps for conducting cultural adaptations. Findings can be utilized to guide future adaptations of evidence-based interventions to ensure culturally competent research and practice.

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Cultural challenges for adapting behavioral intervention frameworks: A critical examination from a cultural psychology perspective

Cited by 3 publications

References 144 publications

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A Scoping Study of Cultural Adaptation Frameworks

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