Cross-cultural Adaptation And Validation Of Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs Instrument In Bahasa Melayu (MHON-BM)

Objectives The study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and validate the three lower levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs instrument (MHON-BM) from English to Bahasa Melayu. Methods The Physiological, Safety-Security, and Belongingness Needs Satisfaction Scales (PNSS, SNSS, BNSS) developed by Taormina and Gao (2013) were adapted into Bahasa Melayu using a modified Beaton guideline involving multiple expert committee meetings, forward/backward translation, and synthesis and followed by a pre-test on 54 participants to assess face validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. A psychometric evaluation was conducted on another sample of 300 participants recruited using a case-control study design, and evaluated the split-half reliability, construct, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Results The cross-cultural adaptation process addressed several semantic, experiential, and conceptual issues and preserved the equivalence of the scale close to the original version. The pretest demonstrated that the items were comprehensible and culturally acceptable, and the scales had excellent test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.58 to 1.00), and linguistic equivalence (r: 0.62–1.00) The psychometric evaluation showed that the scales had high internal consistency (α: 0.92–0.95) and split-half reliability (0.77–0.92), and multidimensional structures that were consistent with the intended constructs. The PNSS, SNSS, and BNSS were correlated with Q-WHOQOL-BREF, LTE-Q-M, and MSPSS-M respectively (p < 0.01), and discriminated between income groups (p < 0.01). Regression and mediation analyses demonstrated that PNSS predicted SNSS, and both PNSS and SNSS predicted BNSS and that SNSS mediated the link between BNSS and BNSS. Conclusions The MHON-BM is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing physiological, safety-security, and belongingness needs in Malaysian adults.