In this article, the authors discuss the transfer to Guatemala of an integral health education program, originally developed for indigenous women in southern Mexico. The program was implemented with some 400 indigenous women in rural Guatemala living under dire poverty, and was carried out through a closely supervised cascade process in which specially trained local women conducted workshops to their fellow countrywomen. The program aimed at imparting knowledge as well as enabling changes in behavior with respect to everyday life issues, including nutrition, hygiene, sanitation, and sexual and reproductive health. Evaluation of the impact through questionnaires and direct observations showed significant increases in knowledge and actual behaviors.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 197-211.
2.
Anckermann, S., Dominguez, M., Soto, N., Kjaerulf, F., Berliner, P., & Mikkelsen, E.N. (2005). Psycho-social support to large numbers of traumatized people in post-conflict societies: An approach to community development in Guatemala. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 15, 136-152.
3.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
4.
Baumeister, R. F. (Ed.). (1993). Self-esteem: The puzzle of low self-regard. New York: Plenum.
5.
Berry, J.W., Poortinga, Y.H., Segall, M.H., & Dasen, P.R. (2002). Cross-cultural psychology: Research and applications (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: University Press.
6.
Carter, M.W. (2004). Gender and community context: An analysis of husbands' household authority in rural Guatemala. Sociological Forum , 19, 633-652.
7.
Catalano, R.F., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J.D., Newcomb, M.D., & Abbott, R.D. (1996). Modeling the etiology of adolescent substance use: A test of the social development model. Journal of Drug Issues, 26, 429-455.
8.
Central Intelligence Agency. (2003). The world factbook. Retrieved April 12, 2005, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
9.
Cleland, J.G., & Van Ginneken, J.K. (1988). Maternal education and child survival in developing countries: The search for pathways of influence . Social Science and Medicine, 27, 1357-1368.
10.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin,112, 155-159.
11.
Crowne, D.P., & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence . New York: Wiley.
12.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
13.
Fishbein, M., & Yzer, M.C. (2003). Using theory to design effective health behavior interventions. Communication Theory, 13, 164-183.
14.
Fontaine, J.R.J., Poortinga, Y.H., Setiadi, B., & Markam, S.S. (2002). Cognitive structure of emotion terms in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Cognition & Emotion, 16, 61-86.
15.
Givaudan, M., Pick, S., Poortinga, Y.H., Fuertes, C., & Gold, L. (2005). A cervical cancer prevention program in rural Mexico: Addressing women and their context. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 15, 338-352.
16.
Green, L. (1999). Fear as a way of life: Mayan widows in rural Guatemala . New York: Columbia University Press.
17.
Greenfield, P.M. (1997). Culture as process: Empirical methods for cultural psychology. In J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga, & J. Pandey (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology, Vol. 1: Theory and method (2nd ed., pp. 301-346). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
18.
Holland, P. W., & Wainer, H. (Eds.). (1993). Differential item functioning . Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
19.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística. (1999). Guatemala: Encuesta nacional de salud materno infantil 1998-1999 [Guatemala: National survey on mother—child health 1998-1999] Retrieved April 12, 2005, from http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdftoc.cfm?ID=275
20.
Kagitcibasi, C. (2005). Autonomy and relatedness in cultural context: Implications for self and family. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 403-422.
21.
Paulhus, D.L. (1991). Measurement and control of response bias. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychology attitudes (pp. 17-60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
22.
Pick, S., Givaudan, M., Guzmán, G., & Vera, J. (2004). Mexico-Central America: Education in sexuality, health, and life skills (Report presented to the World Bank). Mexico City: IMIFAP.
23.
Pick, S., Givaudan, M., & Poortinga, Y.H. (2003). Sexuality and life skills education: A multi-strategy intervention in Mexico. American Psychologist, 58, 230-234.
24.
Pick, S., Poortinga, Y.H., & Givaudan, M. (2003). Integrating intervention theory and strategy in culture-sensitive health promotion programs. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 422-429.
25.
Poortinga, Y.H. (1989). Equivalence of cross-cultural data: An overview of basic issues. International Journal of Psychology, 24, 737-756.
26.
Poortinga, Y.H. (2002, May). Levels of equivalence in transference of programs. Paper presented at the Psychosocial Workshop , Minneapolis, MN.
27.
Poortinga, Y.H. (2003). Coherence of culture and generalizability of data: Two questionable assumptions in cross-cultural psychology. In V. Murphy-Berman & J. J. Berman (Eds.), Cross-cultural differences in perspectives on the self (pp. 257-305). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
28.
Rice, M. (1992). Sociocultural factors affecting reproductive health in Latin America and the Caribbean. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 12, 69-80.
29.
Rissel, C. (1994). Empowerment: The holy grail of health promotion ? Health Promotion International, 9, 39-47.
30.
Rodríguez, J., Bergonzoli, G., & Levav, I. (2002). Violencia política y salud mental en Guatemala [Political violence and mental health in Guatemala]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 48, 43-49.
31.
Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. New York: Anchor Books.
32.
Stith, A.Y., Gorman, K.S., & Choudhury, N. (2003). The effects of psychosocial risk and gender on school attainment in Guatemala. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 52, 614-629.
33.
Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: HarperCollins .
34.
United Nations Children's Fund. (2002). The state of the world's children 2003New York : Author.
35.
United Nations Children's Fund. (2007). Mírame: Situación de la niña indígena en Guatemala [Look at me: The situation of indigenous girls in Guatemala]Guatemala City , Guatemala: Author. Retrieved January 9, 2008 , from http://www.ungei.org/spanish/resources/files/Mirame_-_Situacion_nina_indigena.pdf
36.
Van de Vijver, F.J.R., & Hambleton, R.K. (1996). Translating tests: Some practical guidelines. European Psychologist, 1, 89-99.
37.
Van de Vijver, F.J.R., & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and data analysis of comparative research . In J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga, & J. Pandey (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology, Vol. 1: Theory and method (2nd ed., pp. 257-300). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
38.
Venguer, T., Leenen, I., Morales, N., Givaudan, M., Pick, S., Poortinga, Y.H., et al. (2002). Multiplication of an integral health education program for young women in the Oaxaca region of Mexico (Report presented to GlaxoSmithKline)Mexico City: IMIFAP .
39.
Venguer, T., Pick, S., & Fishbein, M. (2007). Health education and agency: A comprehensive program for young women in the Mixtexa region of Mexico. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 12, 389-406.
40.
Verhelst, N.D., & Glas, C.A.W. (1995). The one parameter logistic model. In G. H. Fisher & I. W. Molenaar (Eds.), Rasch models: Foundations, recent developments, and applications (pp. 215-237). New York: Springer.
41.
Verhelst, N.D., Glas, C.A.W., & Verstralen, H.H.F.M. (1995). One-parameter logistic model [Computer software and manual]Arnhem, The Netherlands: CITO.
42.
Wallston, K.A. (1994). Theoretically based strategies for health behavior change. In M. P. O'Donell & J. S. Harris (Eds.), Health promotion in the workplace (2nd ed., pp. 185-203). Albany, NY: Delmar.
43.
Weiss, E., Whelan, D., & Rao Gupta, G. (1996). Vulnerability and opportunity: Adolescents and HIV/AIDS in the developing world: Findings from the women and AIDS research program. Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women.
44.
Werner, O., & Campbell, D.T. (1970). Translating, working through interpreters, and the problem of decentering. In R. Naroll & R. Cohen (Eds.), A handbook of method in cultural anthropology (pp. 398-420). New York: Columbia University Press.
45.
World Health Organization. (1994). The development and dissemination of life skills education: An overview. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
