Cultural adaptation of the DESSA high-school student self report for chinese adolescents

Social and emotional skills play a pivotal role in an adolescent's healthy development. In recent years, there has been a greater focus on the international expansion of social and emotional learning (SEL) efforts to support students’ well-being. SEL efforts in China for example, have expanded significantly to address the increasing trends in the rates of anxiety and depression among adolescents. Despite the increased focus on SEL, there remains a lack of standardized measures to inform these efforts. This study describes the application of the cultural adaptation process for assessments outlined by the International Test Commission to create a Chinese version of the DESSA High School Edition Student Self-Report (DESSA SSR). The DESSA SSR is a standardized, norm-referenced, strength-based behavior rating scale that measures the social and emotional competence of students in 9th through 12th grades. In addition to a rigorous translation process, expert cultural review and a measurement invariance study were conducted. Findings support the use of the DESSA SSR with Chinese students. Impact Statement: This study details a process for developing cultural adaptations of social and emotional assessments. It also reports on the results of this process to create an assessment for Chinese adolescents.