TRANSLATION PROBLEMS OF THE SPANISH VERSION OF THE READINESS TO CHANGE QUESTIONNAIRE

Dennis G. Fisher1,*, Alex Rainof2, Julio Rodríguez1, Eduardo Archuleta1 and Juan F. Muñiz1

1 Center for Behavioral Research and Services and
2 Department of Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literature, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California, USA

Received 9 July 2001; accepted 2 August 2001

The Readiness to Change Questionnaire instrument by Rollnick et al. (1992) has become a standard in assessing stages of change among substance users. It has found such widespread acceptance that recently it has been translated into Spanish by Rodriguez-Martos et al. (2000). This Spanish translation will be a valuable addition to the tools available for substance misuse researchers and clinicians. We applaud the effort by the Rodriguez-Martos group for their scholarly and well-done contribution. However, we find ourselves with some uneasiness about the translation of several of the items from the English language to the Spanish.

Item 1 in English is ‘I don’t think I drink too much'. This was translated to ‘Yo no bebo demasiado’. We feel that a more appropriate translation would be ‘Yo no pienso que tomo demasiado’. Similarly, item 8 in English is ‘I am at the stage where I should think about drinking less alcohol’. This was translated to ‘Creo que ha llegado el momento en que debería plantearme beber menos’. We believe a more effective translation would be ‘Me encuentro en la etapa en la cual debería pensar en tomar menos’.

Also, in item 7, the English version appears as ‘Anyone can talk about wanting to do something about drinking, but I am actually doing something about it’. This was translated to ‘Cualquiera puede manifestarar [sic] su intención de hacer algo en relación con la bebida, pero yo ya estoy haciéndolo’. First, there appears to be a misspelling in the Spanish version to the word ‘manifestarar’. According to El Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado (2000), the correct spelling of the word is ‘manifestar’, which translates as ‘to manifest’ (Oxford Spanish Dictionary, 1994Go), and is defined as: to make evident or certain by showing or displaying (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2000Go). Clearly, this definition does not relate to the original English version, which states the idea ‘to talk about wanting’. Consequently, using the action verb ‘manifestar’ in the translated Spanish version does not convey nor interpret the original English action ‘to talk about wanting’. In the English version, a cognitive process is being described, whereas in the translated Spanish version an action is being defined. To remedy this incongruence, we suggest that the translation appear as ‘Cualquiera puede decir que quiere hacer algo en cuanto a tomar, pero de hecho yo estoy haciéndolo’.

Other than these few items, we conclude that the Rodriguez-Martos group has made a valuable contribution to the literature and has moved the science of addiction forward.

FOOTNOTES

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Center for Behavioral Research and Services, California State University Long Beach, 1090 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90813, USA. Back

REFERENCES

Ediciones Larousse de Colombia, LTDA. (2000) El Pequeño Larousse Ilustrado, Alboukrek, A. ed., pp. 635. Printer Colombiana S.A., Santafé de Bogotá, D.C.

Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2000) Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Mish, F. C. ed., 706 pp. Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, MA.

Oxford University Press (1994) The Oxford Spanish Dictionary, Galimberti Jarman, B. and Russell, R. eds, 478 pp. Oxford University Press, New York.

Rodriguez-Martos, A., Rubio, G., Auba, J., Santo-Domingo, J., Torralba, Ll. and Campillo, M. (2000) Readiness to change questionnaire: reliability study of its Spanish version. Alcohol and Alcoholism 35,270–275.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Rollnick, S., Heather, N., Gold, R. and Hall, W. (1992) Development of a short ‘Readiness to Change Questionnaire’ for use in brief, opportunistic interventions among excessive drinkers. British Journal of Addiction 87,743–754.[ISI][Medline]





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