Table 5 Examples of translation issues identified

Problematic translation

In the item “I thought the problem would probably go away by itself,” the phrasal verb “go away” was translated to “disappear” in Icelandic (9 of 17 participants).

“Disappear is not really appropriate for this kind of problem. Sure, I thought things would get better by itself, but never just poof and gone.”

The translation was changed to “I thought the problem would probably get better by itself.”

Problematic translation

In the item “I was ashamed or embarrassed,” the word “embarrassed” was translated as “awkward” in Icelandic, which was unsuitable in this context (12 of 17 participants).

“Awkward? I was racked with shame not blushing … using this word is not okay in my opinion.”

Since being ashamed and embarrassed have similar meanings in Icelandic, the adapted item became “I was ashamed.”

Problematic translation

In the item “I couldn’t get time away from work or family responsibilities,” the Icelandic meaning of the word “responsibilities” is more similar to the English word “obligations” (8 of 17 participants).

“Is taking care of my family supposed to sound so negative?”

The word “responsibilities” was cut from the item, changing the translation to “I couldn’t get time away from work or my family.”

Problematic translation

In the item “I thought getting help would take too much time or was inconvenient,” the word “inconvenient” was translated to “impractical,” which was missing the aspects of causing trouble or discomfort (6 of 17 participants).

“I would put that this did not influence me because you don’t think about if it is going to be practical or not … is this really the best word to use?”

The Icelandic word “troublesome” was used instead.