German Version of the Mobile Agnew Relationship Measure: Translation and Validation Study

Abstract

Background The mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM) is a self-report questionnaire for the evaluation of digital mental health interventions and their interactions with users. With the global increase in digital mental health intervention research, translated measures are required to conduct research with local populations. Objective The aim of this study was to translate and validate the original English version of the mARM into a German version (mARM-G). Methods A total of 2 native German speakers who spoke English as their second language conducted forward translation of the original items. This version was then back translated by 2 native German speakers with a fluent knowledge of English. An independent bilingual reviewer then compared these drafts and created a final German version. The mARM-G was validated by 15 experts in the field of mobile app development and 15 nonexperts for content validity and face validity; 144 participants were recruited to conduct reliability testing as well as confirmatory factor analysis. Results The content validity index of the mARM-G was 0.90 (expert ratings) and 0.79 (nonexperts). The face validity index was 0.89 (experts) and 0.86 (nonexperts). Internal consistency for the entire scale was Cronbach α=.91. Confirmatory factor analysis results were as follows: the chi-square statistic to df ratio was 1.66. Comparative Fit Index was 0.87 and the Tucker-Lewis Index was 0.86. The root mean square error of approximation was 0.07. Conclusions The mARM-G is a valid and reliable tool that can be used for future studies in German-speaking countries.