Background: Precise and unequivocal specification of intervention content is key to facilitating the accumulation and implementation of knowledge. The Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) is the most widely used classification of behaviour change techniques (BCTs), providing a shared, standardized vocabulary to identify the active ingredients of behavioural interventions. However, the BCTTv1 is only available in English and this hampers its broad use and adoption. The aim of the present article is to report the process of translation of the BCTTv1 into Spanish.
Methods: A bilingual team led the translation of the BCTTv1, involving seven iterative steps: (i) establish a Committee, (ii) forward translation from English to Spanish, (iii) back translation from Spanish to English, (iv) comparison of original BCTTv1 and back translation, (v) opportunistic comparison against an independent BCTTv1 translation, (vi) empirical testing, and (vii) final Committee review.
Results: Changes as a result of the translation process included relabelling BCTs, amending definitions, and fixing conceptual and grammatical inconsistencies, yielding the final version. Very satisfactory inter-coder reliability in BCT identification was observed as part of the empirical testing (i.e., prevalence and bias-adjusted kappa scores > 0.8).
Conclusions: This work provides the Spanish-speaking population with a rigorous and validated BCTTv1 translation which can be used in both research and practice to provide a greater level of intervention detail for evidence synthesis, comparison, and replication of behaviour change interventions. The translation process described here may prove helpful to guide future translation efforts in behavioural science and beyond.
Keywords: BCTTv1; TTsCCv1; behaviour; behavioural science; classification system; health.
Behaviour change interventions use specific techniques (for example, providing information or setting up goals) to promote beneficial changes such as increasing physical activity or cutting down carbon emissions. Having a unifying framework for describing these techniques can help us describe studies more consistently and so better integrate research findings. The Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1 (BCTTv1) is the most popular classification of intervention content. However, the BCTTv1 is only available in English and this makes it difficult for the taxonomy to be widely used as English is not the first language of so many across the world. The aim of the present article is to report the process of translation of the BCTTv1 into Spanish. A bilingual team led the translation of the BCTTv1, involving seven iterative steps: (i) establish a Committee, (ii) a first (forward) translation from English to Spanish, (iii) a second (back) translation from Spanish to English, (iv) comparison of original BCTTv1 and back translation, (v) opportunistic comparison against an independent BCTTv1 translation developed by a different research group, (vi) testing whether researchers can consistently apply the translated taxonomy, and (vii) final Committee review. Changes because of the translation process included relabelling some of the techniques, amending definitions, and fixing conceptual and grammatical inconsistencies, resulting in the final version. Results after using the final translated BCTTv1 suggest researchers can consistently apply the translated taxonomy to different behaviour change interventions. This study provides researchers and practitioners with a translation of the BCTTv1 that can be used to better specify behaviour change interventions in Spanish-speaking countries or other countries with large Spanish-speaking populations. The translation methodology described here could benefit the research community more broadly by informing future translation efforts of other research tools and resources.
Copyright: © 2024 Castro O et al.