PBAT Network Analysis: Spanish Validation and Cross-Cultural Perspectives

The Process-Based Assessment Tool (PBAT) was developed within the framework of process-based therapy, an alternative to symptom-focused diagnostic models, to monitor biopsychosocial change processes and support personalized therapeutic interventions. This study aimed to validate the Spanish version of the PBAT by replicating the original U.S. study protocol. A representative sample of 602 Spanish participants completed online cross-sectional questionnaires assessing psychological distress, health, vitality, and need satisfaction or frustration. The Boruta machine learning algorithm was used to evaluate the predictive value of PBAT items for clinical outcomes. Results confirmed the structural and criterion validity of the Spanish PBAT, expanding its cross-cultural applicability. Additionally, we applied a network analysis approach using link community detection on PBAT data from Spain, the U.S., Sweden and Poland, revealing culturally specific relationships between psychological processes and clinical outcomes. This method can be used to construct personalized networks from longitudinal data that clinicians can use to identify and target core psychological processes such as attention or emotion regulation based on an individual’s unique psychological profile.