Translating a single-word items scale with multiple subcomponents - A Hebrew translation of the profile of mood states

Background: The purpose of the Study was to assess the translation adequacy of a Hebrew version of the POMS, and to report the decision-making process of overcoming methodological flaws. Method: The English version was translated to Hebrew by expert team approach. Factor analysis for construct validation was predominantly used for assessment, in addition to other techniques: back translation, use of bilingual subjects, and correlation with other instruments for concurrent validation. Results: The final 28-item Hebrew version has Suitable psychometric properties. Of the six dimensions on the English version scale, five dimensions - "anger," "depression," "fatigue," "tension" and "vigor" - were found comparable to the English version, while "confusion" was deleted. Limtations: The pre-testing was performed on Students only. Conclusions: Although the study shows valid psychometric properties, further studies in various Populations are needed to assess the sensitivity of the scale to diverse manipulations.