Lessons learned in instrument pilot testing with Mexican American caregivers of elders

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Services Research
• Cross-Cultural Psychology

Background:

• The growing Mexican American (MA) population necessitates culturally relevant research tools.
• Translated instruments from English-speaking populations may lack relevance for MA communities without validation.
• Pilot testing is essential to identify and address potential issues before large-scale data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present lessons learned from pilot testing of instruments intended for use with Mexican American family caregivers.
• To highlight challenges encountered during the adaptation and validation of research instruments for a specific cultural group.

Main Methods:

• Pilot testing of two instruments with 22 Mexican American family caregivers of older adults.
• Classification of identified issues into three categories: instrumentation, methodology, and demographic data.

Main Results:

• Instrumentation issues included problems with level of abstraction, concreteness, pronoun use, clarity, exclusiveness, and response format.
• Methodological concerns focused on test-retest administration and the suitability of inclusion criteria.
• Demographic data challenges involved marital status, country of birth, household size, income, and the validity of self-rated scales.

Conclusions:

• Addressing identified instrumentation, methodological, and demographic issues is vital for developing culturally sensitive measures.
• Improved instrument validation increases the likelihood of generalizability to relevant Mexican American populations.
• This study provides practical insights for researchers working with diverse cultural groups, particularly the Mexican American community.