Process of adaptation to Spanish of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE)

Abstract

Introduction. Research on vulnerability factors of psychosis and its secondary prevention is currently an area of great clinical interest. The objective of this study is to make a linguistic and cultural adaptation of the “Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale.” The CAPE is a self-rated scale assessing three basic dimensions of the psychosis spectrum (positive, negative and depressive) in order to evaluate psychotic-like experiences and psychotic symptoms in the general population and therefore the potential risk of developing a psychotic disorder.

Method. The translation-backtranslation methodology was applied to the 42-item CAPE version. The items translated to Spanish were backtranslated to English and rated on a semantic and conceptual equivalence scale to determine the coincidence of the backtranslated items with the original English version.

Results. All items translated and adapted by the Spanish bilingual consultant, and rated by an expert on the CAPE, received a type A (perfect) or B (satisfactory) equivalence assessment.

Conclusions. The Spanish version of the CAPE has good parity with the original English version. This guarantees proper measurement of psychotic-like symptoms in samples of Spanish-speaking populations. Future studies should assess the reliability and validity of this adapted instrument.