Psychiatric research instruments in the transcultural setting: experiences in India and Brazil

Some of the issues concerned with the application of standardized psychiatric research instruments in settings other than the one in which they are developed are discussed in the light of the authors' experiences in India and Brazil. The authors contend that in spite of the divergent manifestations of mental disorders across cultures, there is an inner core of human suffering which can be reliably detected by suitably modified instruments developed in the West. It is contended that the research worker should be as familiar with the cultural setting where the instrument is to be applied as the language in which the instrument has been developed.