Going Global

Abstract

The spread of evidence-based practice throughout the world has resulted in the wide adoption of empirically supported interventions (ESIs) and a growing number of controlled trials of imported and culturally adapted ESIs. This article is informed by outcome research on family-based interventions including programs listed in the American Blueprints Model and Promising Programs. Evidence from these controlled trials is mixed and, because it is comprised of both successful and unsuccessful replications of ESIs, it provides clues for the translation of promising programs in the future. At least four explanations appear plausible for the mixed results in replication trials. One has to do with methodological differences across trials. A second deals with ambiguities in the cultural adaptation process. A third explanation is that ESIs in failed replications have not been adequately implemented. A fourth source of variation derives from unanticipated contextual influences that might affect the effects of ESIs when transported to other cultures and countries. This article describes a model that allows for the differential examination of adaptations of interventions in new cultural contexts.

Effects on alcohol use of a Swedish school-based prevention program for early adolescents: a longitudinal study

“…In Sweden, few alcohol prevention programs have been evaluated, so there is a general lack of evidence on the effectiveness of such programs [25, 26]. Moreover, there are important challenges in context adaptation of foreign programs into other national settings [27, 28]. Therefore, the aim of the study was to address the lack of evaluations of school-based substance use prevention programs and to conduct a quasi-experimental evaluation of the alcohol use part of the Triad.…”

Toward Dynamic Adaptation of Psychological Interventions for Child and Adolescent Development and Mental Health

“…For example, according to Sundell, Ferrer-Wreder, and Fraser (2014), divergent results between studies on intercultural replication of a certain intervention may be attributed to (a) methodological differences between evaluation studies conducted in different contexts, (b) ambiguities in the contextual adaptation process (e.g., differences in how adaptations were done), (c) the implementation quality of a national/regional replication of an intervention, and (d) real contextual influences (e.g., type of social care system where the intervention was implemented) that affect the outcomes of a transported intervention. However, because several of the variables that might affect transportability to diverse cultural contexts are not assessed or reported in most existing published trials, our understanding of the variables that may reasonably contribute to a successful or an unsuccessful adoption or adaptation of a program or intervention is still limited.…”

“…More research in this area can yield the evidence that is needed to bring about practical change, for example, more evidence-based recommendation within the program manuals about what could or should be changed according to cultural aspects when conducting interventions, without losing its conceptual fidelity. However, it is also important to reconsider how adaptations to settings should be made in general (Castro et al, 2010;Sundell et al, 2014). Specifically, all too often there is a lack of theoretical guidance and absence of an explanation of the core principles that guide the intervention practice (Blase & Fixsen, 2013).…”

“…These are important steps to discussing the adaptability and transportability of interventions in more detail. In addition, further intervention research should systematically compare different types of adaptation and cultural transportation by using empirically derived frameworks, standardized systems, and protocols (see Okamoto, Kulis, Marsiglia, Holleran Steiker, & Dustman, 2014;Stirman, Miller, Toder, & Calloway, 2013;Sundell et al, 2014).…”

Better Engaging Social Science Graduate Students in Introductory Research Methods Courses: A Class Activity

“…Finally, while EBP has been emphasised more readily in the US, UK and Nordic countries, 'it's far away from being generally accepted across Europe' (Erath 2012, p1) and may be even more problematic when and if applied to different economic, political and social contexts of emerging and developing nations where social sciences may vary dramatically. As Sundell et al (2013) articulate, the cultural adaptation process between contexts is an important contextual factor that may influence the affect of EBPs when transported to other cultures and new contexts.…”