Translating a single-word items scale with multiple subcomponents--A Hebrew translation of the Profile of Mood States.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the study was to assess the translation adequacy of a Hebrew version of the POMS, and to report the decision-making process of overcoming methodological flaws.

METHOD: The English version was translated to Hebrew by expert team approach. Factor analysis for construct validation was predominantly used for assessment, in addition to other techniques: back translation, use of bilingual subjects, and correlation with other instruments for concurrent validation.

RESULTS

The final 28-item Hebrew version has suitable psychometric properties. Of the six dimensions on the English version scale, five dimensions--"anger," "depression:' "fatigue," "tension" and "vigor"--were found comparable to the English version, while "confusion" was deleted.

LIMITATIONS: The pre-testing was performed on students only.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the study shows valid psychometric properties, further studies in various populations are needed to assess the sensitivity of the scale to diverse manipulations.