Cross-cultural adaptation of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) into German: a qualitative study in three countries

Abstract

Background Concepts such as participation and environment may differ across cultures.Consequently, to use a measure like the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) in other than the original English-speaking contexts, cultural adaptation needs to be assured. The aim of this study was to cross-culturally translate and adapt the PEM-CY into German as it is used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.Methods Fifteen parents of children and adolescents with disabilities from three German speaking countries participated in three rounds of think-aloud interviews. We followed the procedure of cultural equivalence guidelines including two additional steps. Data was analyzed by content analysis using semantic, idiomatic, experiential and conceptual equivalence.Results Results show adaptations mainly focused on experiential and conceptual equivalence. Examples of experiential equivalence included adapting the examples of activities in the PEM-CY toreflect typical ones in German speaking countries. Conceptual equivalence mainly addressed aspects of "involvement" and "environment" of children and adolescents and was reached through adaptations such as enhanced instructions and structures, and additional definitions. Conclusion This study presents a cross-cultural translation and adaptation process to develop aGerman version of the PEM-CY that is suitable for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As participation and environment are both complex concepts to measure, conceptual equivalence posed the highest challenges for this cultural adaptation. A culturally adapted version of PEM-CY (German) is now available for research, practice and further validation.

Life Quality and Participation of Disabled Children and Young People: Design and Methods of a Transformative Study

“…The PEM-CY fits well with our theoretical perspective as it links the impact of the environment to participation within a particular setting, focusing simultaneously on participation and environmental factors (Coster et al, 2011, 2012). The PEM-CY has been translated and culturally adapted into a number of languages (Krieger et al, 2020).…”

Psychometric Properties of the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) and Measurement Invariance Across Two Different German-Speaking Samples

“…German is the native language to more than 100 million people, mainly spoken in Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and some parts in Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Poland). Even though these countries and regions share a common language, they differ in their cultural backgrounds and dialects (Krieger et al, 2020). Some words and phrases might not be understood or have a different meaning in another country/region.…”