The school participation questionnaire–German version (SPQ–G): Translation and cross–cultural adaptation for its use in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The School Participation Questionnaire (SPQ) is an established measure for assessing children’s participation in school activities, yet no culturally adapted version exists for German-speaking countries. This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the SPQ for use in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, ensuring conceptual, semantic, and operational equivalence. A seven-stage adaptation process was conducted, including forward and back translation, expert review, and cognitive interviews with teachers. Adaptations were categorized using established frameworks for cultural equivalence. Across all stages, 64 adaptations were identified. These included conceptual clarifications, semantic refinements, item-level modifications, and operational adjustments to align the instrument with German-speaking educational systems. Cognitive interviews highlighted areas requiring rewording, contextualization, and improved clarity. This study resulted in the development of the SPQ-G, a culturally grounded adaptation of the original SPQ tailored to German-speaking contexts. The instrument is now ready for application in research and practice, although further psychometric testing is required to evaluate its reliability, validity, and equivalence with the original version.