Guidelines for culturally adapting mental health interventions in China

Globally, mental illness ranks first among the causes of disability. In China, 17.5% of individuals have a mental illness, with only 150 people per 100,000 people receiving treatment for their diagnosis. To effectively address the growing unmet mental health needs in China, it is essential that China develops and adapts evidence-based and empirically supported treatment interventions. Although many researchers have begun to disseminate their interventions globally, the literature currently lacks well-defined guidelines for cultural adaptation. To address this gap in the literature, the objectives of this article are to 1) review stages of intervention science and the importance of intervention development in China; 2) examine cultural adaptation processes drawn from the literature; and 3) develop guidelines for the cultural adaptation of mental health interventions in China.