Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Icelandic Beliefs About Psychological Services Scale (I-BAPS)

Three studies are described on the cross-cultural adaptation of the Beliefs About Psychological Services scale for use in Iceland (I-BAPS). Emic and etic methods were used to enhance the instrument's cross-cultural validity. In Study 1, indigenous emic items were developed. In Studies 2 and 3, the dimensionality and psychometric properties of the instrument were evaluated. The I-BAPS contains 22 items (16 etic and 6 emic) distributed on three subscales: Intent, Stigma Tolerance, and Expertness, which provide a reliable and valid representation of Icelanders' attitudes toward and intentions to seek psychological services. It is expected that the I-BAPS will stimulate research on psychological help seeking in Iceland. It is also anticipated that the methods we used will inspire those interested in cross-cultural and cultural research to focus on validity enhancement of instruments for use outside their culture of origin.