1 - (IOP 19) Creating a Pan-spanish Translation of a Diagnostic Interview for Mental Disorders: Implementation of a Committee-based Framework

The 2021-2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that 20.8% of Hispanics/Latines aged 18 or older reported past-year mental disorders. Additionally, the mental health service use rate in 2023 among Hispanics/Latines aged 18 or older was 17.0%, and Latines are 33% less likely to receive necessary mental health treatment relative to other ethnic groups (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2024; National Alliance on Mental Health, 2020). A frequently reported contributor to low mental health service utilization among Latines is the language barrier. Not only is it challenging to find Spanish speaking providers, but it is also difficult to find Spanish language measures that have been properly translated, validated, and are free of charge. These barriers underscore the importance of developing culturally sensitive translations of existing tools to enhance access to evidence-based diagnosis and treatment for diverse Latines (Falgas et al., 2017). The Diagnostic Interview for Anxiety, Mood, and OCD and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders (DIAMOND) is a diagnostic interview which addresses symptoms across a multitude of psychiatric disorders and has demonstrated sufficient test-retest reliability and convergent validity in assessing for DSM-5 disorder criteria (Tolin et al., 2016). Moreover, the DIAMOND yields a high ease of administration, is widely accessible, and is applicable in training, research, and clinical settings. To address the increasing need of diagnostic assessment tools for diverse underserved populations, we describe our efforts to create a pan-Spanish translation of the DIAMOND and assess its psychometric properties (i.e., test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and concurrent validity). Translation efforts involved a multi-stage process, following a committee-based framework as described in Valdez et al. (2021). This method allows for continuous review from a team of experts while avoiding the semantic inaccuracies that may be produced from traditional forward-and-back translation. During the initial planning phase, we assembled a team from diverse regions of North, Central, and South America and who were fluent in Spanish and knowledgeable about cultural variances. The DIAMOND then underwent parallel translation by two team members, followed by extensive review where recommendations from all team members were synthesized. To facilitate generalizability across diverse Spanish speaking communities, wording choices were discussed to ensure that dialectical and regional expressions were reduced and a common understanding of question wording was reached. In our talk, we describe this process and provide examples of how committee-based translation yields a superior instrument relative to forward-and-backward translation by a few native speakers. Adjudication, pilot testing, and validation of the Spanish DIAMOND are in progress.