Translation and adaptation of the TIE-93 to Dutch, Moroccan-Arabic, and Turkish: Piloting and cross-national comparison

In Part I, we adapted the Test d'Identification des Émotions Faciales (TIE-93), an emotion recognition test, from French into Dutch, Moroccan-Arabic, and Turkish. In Part II, the translated versions were piloted.

The procedures and challenges encountered during the translation and adaptation process are reported qualitatively. The translated versions were piloted, with performance on the TIE-93 compared across Dutch (n = 13), Surinamese (n = 15), Moroccan (n = 14), and Turkish (n = 16) healthy control groups. Second, we compared Surinamese, Moroccan, and Turkish healthy controls to matched patients (n = 20) with subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia. Third, we compared Moroccan healthy controls from the Netherlands and France (n = 20).

The challenges encountered during the translation process highlighted the difficulty of translating tests of social cognition, as emotional concepts are intricately linked to culture. As a result, literal translations often failed to maintain meaning equivalence; therefore, adaptations were necessary. Seventy-eight participants were included for piloting, and exploratory analyses were conducted. Healthy controls significantly outperformed patients, and Moroccan healthy controls from the Netherlands, who tested in their native language, significantly performed better than those from France.

Results highlight challenges in cross-cultural test adaptation in social cognition, as achieving conceptual equivalence was complicated by cultural and linguistic nuances in emotion-related terms. Nevertheless, the TIE-93 shows clinical potential; this should be examined in larger samples.