Abstract
The cultural tailoring of interventions to reach underserved groups has moved from descriptive and proscriptive models to
their application with existing evidence based treatments. To date few published examples illustrate the process of cultural
adaptation. The current paper documents the adaptation of an evidence based parent training intervention, Parent Management
Training—Oregon Model (PMTO™), for Spanish-speaking Latino parents using both process (Domenech Rodríguez and Wieling in Voices
of color: first-person accounts of ethnic minority therapists, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2004) and content (Bernal et al. in J
Abnorm Child Psychol 23:67–82, 1995) models. The adaptation took place in stages: a pilot study to ensure feasibility, focus
groups to establish appropriate format and goals, and a test of the intervention. Throughout the process the treatment manual
was treated as a living document. Changes were applied and documented as the team developed improvements for the adaptation.
The present discussion details both process adaptations, (e.g., engaging the treatment developer, community leaders, and parents,
and decentering the manual), and content adaptations, (e.g., shaping the appropriateness of language, persons, metaphors,
concepts, contexts, methods, and goals). The current research provides support for the idea that cultural adaptations can
improve service delivery to diverse groups and can be conducted systematically with documentation for replication purposes.
Suggestions for improving the empirical measurement and documentation of the adaptation process are included.
their application with existing evidence based treatments. To date few published examples illustrate the process of cultural
adaptation. The current paper documents the adaptation of an evidence based parent training intervention, Parent Management
Training—Oregon Model (PMTO™), for Spanish-speaking Latino parents using both process (Domenech Rodríguez and Wieling in Voices
of color: first-person accounts of ethnic minority therapists, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2004) and content (Bernal et al. in J
Abnorm Child Psychol 23:67–82, 1995) models. The adaptation took place in stages: a pilot study to ensure feasibility, focus
groups to establish appropriate format and goals, and a test of the intervention. Throughout the process the treatment manual
was treated as a living document. Changes were applied and documented as the team developed improvements for the adaptation.
The present discussion details both process adaptations, (e.g., engaging the treatment developer, community leaders, and parents,
and decentering the manual), and content adaptations, (e.g., shaping the appropriateness of language, persons, metaphors,
concepts, contexts, methods, and goals). The current research provides support for the idea that cultural adaptations can
improve service delivery to diverse groups and can be conducted systematically with documentation for replication purposes.
Suggestions for improving the empirical measurement and documentation of the adaptation process are included.
- Content Type Journal Article
- DOI 10.1007/s10464-010-9371-4
- Authors
- Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez, Department of Psychology, Utah State University, 2810 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-2810, USA
- Ana A. Baumann, Center for Latino Family Research, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA
- Audrey L. Schwartz, Department of Psychology, Utah State University, 2810 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-2810, USA
- Journal American Journal of Community Psychology
- Online ISSN 1573-2770
- Print ISSN 0091-0562