FAQ

Adaption of the Questionnaire

Changes

In principle, there should be no changes to the KINDL^R questionnaires. Changes such as the omission of items or adaptations to a specific sample should generally be viewed critically, since each change alters a standardized instrument and restricts comparability (with other studies, also internationally, and with norm and reference values).

In rare cases, however, omitting items or adjusting to a sample may be appropriate. For example, it happened in the following cases that word changes were made:

• Adaptation of the words "mother" and "father" into "caregiver" (for unaccompanied refugees living in a residential facility).
• Adaptation of the word "parents" to "guardian/legal guardian/person with parental control" (for refugee children who do not live with their parents).

It is important that all item changes are consistent, so that all items of the questionnaire fit together despite these changes. In the case of publication, changes must be described and discussed, and this should also be considered in the context of comparisons to other studies.

Changes to items can lead to a different interpretation, possibly resulting in different constructs being captured than in the validated original questionnaire, (the same applies to use with groups for which the questionnaire has not been validated, e.g. an older sample). As soon as changes of any kind are made, the KINDL^R is no longer being used in its original version.

Use only of disease-specific module

In principle, the decision as to whether disease-specific modules can be used alone is up to you and should be based on your research question.

However, we would always recommend using the modules together with the generic KINDL^R questionnaire. This also offers the advantage that comparisons to healthy populations/norm values are possible.