Linguistically and culturally sensitive French (Canada) and Spanish (North America) translations of the CAARS 2 were adapted from the final versions of the English Self-Report and Observer forms¹. Translations for both the French (Canada) and Spanish (North America) versions followed a translation and reconciliation process conducted by cApStAN Linguistic Quality Control. First, two professional, native-speaker translators each produced independent translations of the same assessment materials from English to the requested language. Next, the two translations were reconciled by a third linguist, referred to as a reconciler, who identified and resolved discrepancies based on considerations such as readability, comprehensibility, and clarity. The reconciler was the most experienced linguist of the three and was trained to merge translation one and translation two into a version that used the best elements from each to ensure that the final translation was as accurate as possible. Then, the final version delivered by the reconciler was sent to proofreading which ensured linguistic correctness (e.g., spelling, phraseology, syntax, grammar). Finally, each language version was subjected to automated consistency checks and reviewed to ensure that style guides and translation guidelines (for more information, see https://www.capstan.be/) were adhered to throughout the process.

The French (Canada) and Spanish (North America) versions of the CAARS 2 forms aimed to provide cultural translations of the instructions and items, while maintaining consistency between the Self-Report and Observer forms. In many cases, this meant that the only difference between the forms was use of first-person perspective on the Self-Report and third-person perspective on the Observer form. In cases where there were significant differences beyond the perspective, translators did not force consistency but ensured that the two rater forms were asking about the same behavior/feeling/experience in the translation.

Just as with the English version of the CAARS 2, special attention was paid to the use of gender-inclusive language. At the time these translations were being developed, there was no clear consensus with respect to what constitutes gender-inclusive language in French (Canada) or Spanish (North America), but care was nonetheless taken to consider gender inclusivity when developing the translations. In some cases, French or Spanish languages allowed for the he/she pronoun to be dropped from a sentence entirely, without sacrificing comprehensibility or grammatical correctness. In cases where this was not possible, translators were asked to restructure the translated sentence to avoid using gendered terms.