A content analyses of guided imagery scripts: a strategy for the development of cultural adaptations

This paper proposes a first step in deciding whether it is necessary to develop a cultural adaptation by comparing the cultural characteristics of an intervention with the same characteristics of a specific group. Larger cultural differences suggest a greater need to conduct a cultural adaptation. This recommendation stems from the cultural match theory (CMT) which, explains that therapeutic outcomes increase as interventions are more similar to the cultural characteristics of specific treatment groups. However, the CMT has rarely been tested, partly because strategies to effectively measure the cultural characteristics of an intervention are still lacking. This article addresses this gap by assessing two dimensions of the self-orientation relevant to cultural adaptations, namely, idiocentrism--the tendency to define oneself in isolation from others--and allocentrism--the tendency to define oneself in relationship to others--through a content analysis of guided imagery scripts. Two independent evaluators analyzed 123 guided imagery scripts (published during 1989-2008) using 6 theoretically derived categories to analyze idiocentrism versus allocentrism. Results indicated that idiocentric elements were 1.5 to 52.3 times more frequently used than were allocentric ones. The implications of these findings for the development of culturally adapted interventions are discussed.