How do we know what we are measuring when we have instruments developed in English for English speakers translated into Spanish? Are we measuring the same constructs in Latinx communities? How does the translation process affect the psychometrics of validated meausres? What are potential micro-aggressions in multilingual research? What do we need to consider for managing multilingual data?

Gabriela Nagy, PhD, a Clinical Associate within Cognitive-Behavioral Research and Treatment Program at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University Medical Center and Rosa Solórzano, MD, MPH, with appointments in the School of Nursing, the School of Medicine, and the Department of Romance Languages at Duke University, will lead a discussion on these questions.

Sharing lessons learned from their collaborative work with the Salud Estrés y Resiliencia (SER) Hispano Study of the Duke University School of Nursing, they will discuss the psychometric and ethical considerations of engaging with Spanish-speaking Latinx populations in research.

Dr. Nagy’s research interests center on (1) dissemination and implementation science (i.e., extending evidence-based treatments to underserved populations), (2) optimizing learning methods in cultural humility training, and (3) evaluating cultural and sociodemographic factors associated with epidemiology of psychopathology in Latinx individuals.

Dr. Solórzano, originally from Colombia, is a Consulting Associate for the Duke University School of Nursing where she serves as lead faculty for the Medical Spanish and Cultural Competence courses. Dr. Solórzano serves as Director of Recruitment and Engagement for the SER Hispano Project. She also is the co-founder of TeenSmart International, an organization formed after 10 years of research on ‘Risk and Resilience’, seeking to promote resilience and prevent risky health behaviors among youth in Central America.