Concurrent validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a new instrument designed to assess symptoms of social phobia. Although the scale has been shown to have a good test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity, no studies have examined its concurrent validity with respect to other measures of social anxiety and avoidance. In the present study, the relationship between the SPAI and several self-report measures of social anxiety was examined in a sample of 23 patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for social phobia. The relationship between the SPAI and other measures of psychopathology, as well as performance during a role play test and an impromptu speech, was also examined. The results strongly support the concurrent validity and the specificity of the SPAI. The Social Phobia subscale may be a better index of social anxiety symptoms than the Difference subscale.This research was supported, in part, by NIMH grants MH 38636 and MH 41577 to the second author.     

The Reliability,Validity, Discriminant and Predictive Properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SoPhI)

This paper reports on the psychometric properties of the Social Phobic Inventory (SoPhI) a 21-item scale that was designed to measure social anxiety according to the criteria of DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, APA (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder , 4th Edn., Washington). Factor analysis of the SoPhI using data from a clinical sample of respondents with social phobia revealed one factor which explained approximately 59% of variance and which demonstrated strong internal reliability ( f = 0.93). The SoPhI demonstrated concurrent validity with the SPAI ( r = 0.86) and convergent validity with the Fear of Negative Evaluations-Revised ( r = 0.68). The predictive utility of the scale was demonstrated in a sample of university students classified as extroverted, normal, shy/introverted, and phobic/withdrawn ( m 2 57%). Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed that the combined university sample differed from the clinical sample on the summated scores on the SoPhI and that 43% ( m 2 ) of this difference was attributable to group membership. This figure rose to 58% attributable to group membership when these same groups were compared for differences on the 21 individual items. Scores of the SoPhI that are indicative of concern and of possible diagnostic criteria, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed.     

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory: Reliability and Validity in an Adolescent Spanish Population

The objective of this study is to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SPAI in a sample of adolescent Spaniards. The results obtained support the use of the correlated two-factor SPAI subscales and indicate high coefficient alpha values for the SPAI subscales. The results provide support for the use of the SPAI in an adolescent population in a non-English-speaking country. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Social Phobia subscale showed a four-factor structure, instead of a five-factor dimension, as suggested by previous studies. Effects for gender and age and gender interaction were found. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Factor solutions of the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) in a Swedish population

Culturally validated rating scales for social anxiety disorder (SAD) are of significant importance when screening for the disorder, as well as for evaluating treatment efficacy. This study examined construct validity and additional psychometric properties of two commonly used scales, the Social Phobia Scale and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, in a clinical SAD population (n?=?180) and in a normal population (n?=?614) in Sweden. Confirmatory factor analyses of previously reported factor solutions were tested but did not reveal acceptable fit. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) of the joint structure of the scales in the total population yielded a two-factor model (performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety), whereas EFA in the clinical sample revealed a three-factor solution, a social interaction anxiety factor and two performance anxiety factors. The SPS and SIAS showed good to excellent internal consistency, and discriminated well between patients with SAD and a normal population sample. Both scales showed good convergent validity with an established measure of SAD, whereas the discriminant validity of symptoms of social anxiety and depression could not be confirmed. The optimal cut-off score for SPS and SIAS were 18 and 22 points, respectively. It is concluded that the factor structure and the additional psychometric properties of SPS and SIAS support the use of the scales for assessment in a Swedish population.     

大学生评价恐惧在自尊与社交焦虑间的中介效应分析

为探讨评价恐惧在自尊与社交焦虑间的作用,本研究采用正向评价恐惧量表、负向评价恐惧量表、自尊量表、社交互动焦虑量表,以大学生作为研究对象进行问卷调查,得到655份有效问卷。研究结果表明:(1)正向评价恐惧量表在本研究大学生样本中具有良好的信、效度。(2)正向评价恐惧、负向评价恐惧在自尊与社交焦虑间起着部分中介作用,中介效应值为47.17%,即自尊一方面直接影响社交焦虑,另一方面通过负向评价恐惧、正向评价恐惧影响社交焦虑。     

Attention to Positive and Negative Social-Evaluative Words: Investigating the Effects of Social Anxiety,Trait Anxiety and Social Threat

The study investigated how attention to negative (threatening) and positive social-evaluative words is affected by social anxiety, trait anxiety and the expectation of social threat. High and low socially anxious individuals carried out a modified dot-probe task either while expecting to give a speech or under non-threatening conditions. High socially anxious individuals showed no significant attentional bias towards or away from social-evaluative words. This result significantly contrasted with an identical design that showed avoidance of emotional faces in high socially anxious participants drawn from the same population (Mansell et al ., 1999). Participants who expected to give a speech showed less attentional avoidance of negative and positive social-evaluative words. High trait anxiety was associated with selective attention to negative relative to positive social-evaluative words, consistent with earlier findings of attention to threat cues in high trait-anxious individuals. Implications for designing attention tasks and attentional bias across different dimensions of anxiety are discussed.     

Psychometric Properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale in an Adolescent Spanish-Speaking Sample

The relationship among several social anxiety measures and a semistructured interview in an adolescent Spanish-speaking sample is examined. Construct validity and test-retest reliability were tested. A principal axis factor analysis was also explored. Results revealed good construct validity and alpha coefficients for the assessment instruments such as the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A), the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNES) and the Social Avoidance Distress Scale (SADS). Among these, data strongly support the validity of the Social Phobia and Difference measures of the SPAI and Total SAS-A score as assessment measures in the adolescent population even in non-American cultures and languages. Furthermore, results appear to support the presence of a single higher-order dimension, social anxiety, as measured by the instruments used in this study.     

The Origins of Fears of Compassion: Shame and Lack of Safeness Memories,Fears of Compassion and Psychopathology

Empirical and clinical research suggests that some individuals find self-generating compassion and receiving compassion from others difficult and aversive. However, it is unclear how these fears of compassion are linked to early experiences and to psychopathological symptoms. This study explores the relationship between shame traumatic memories, centrality of shame memories, early memories of warmth and safeness, fears of compassion, and depression, anxiety and paranoid symptoms. Participants were 302 individuals from the general community population, who completed self-report measures of fears of compassion, shame memories, early affiliative memories, and psychopathology. Shame traumatic and central memories were positively associated with fears of compassion for self, for others and from others, whereas early memories of warmth and safeness were negatively related to such fears. Path analyses revealed that fears of compassion for self and of receiving compassion from others mediated the effects of shame traumatic memory, centrality of shame memory and early memories of warmth and safeness on depressive, anxious and paranoid symptoms. These findings have implications for therapeutic interventions as these fears, as well as the negative shame-based emotional memories fuelling them, may need to be addressed in therapy to assist patients in self-generating and receiving compassion.     

Development of a Brief Version of the Social Phobia Inventory Using Item Response Theory: The Mini-SPIN-R

The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) is a widely used measure in mental health settings and a 3-item version (mini-SPIN) has been developed as a screening instrument for social anxiety disorder. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the SPIN and developed a brief version (mini-SPIN-R) designed to assess social anxiety severity using item response theory. Our sample included 569 individuals with social anxiety disorder who participated in 2 clinical trials and filled out a battery of self-report measures. Using a nonparametric kernel smoothing method we identified the most sensitive items of the SPIN. These 3 items comprised the mini-SPIN-R, which was found to have greater internal consistency, and to capture a greater range of symptoms compared to the mini-SPIN. The mini-SPIN-R evidenced superior convergent validity compared to the mini-SPIN and both measures had similar divergent validity. Thus, the mini-SPIN-R is a promising brief measure of social anxiety severity.     

Assessing the Multi-faceted Nature of Test Anxiety Among Secondary School Students: An English Version of the German Test Anxiety Questionnaire: PAF-E

The current study concerns the validation of an English version of the German Test Anxiety Inventory, namely the PAF-E. This questionnaire is a multi-faceted measure of test anxiety designed to detect normative test anxiety levels and in consequence meet the need of consultancy. Construct and criterion validity of (PAF-E) were examined with a sample of 96 secondary students (Mage = 12.8, SD = 0.67; 55% girls) from an international school in Berlin (Germany) and 399 secondary students (Mage = 13.4, SD = 0.80; 56% girls) from Montréal (Canada). Both samples completed the PAF-E and related constructs, such as school-related self-efficacy, inhibitory test anxiety, achievement motivation, and the Big Five. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the four-factor-structure (worry, emotionality, interfering thoughts, lack of confidence) of the original German Test Anxiety Inventory (PAF). Each subscale consists of five items with a total of 20 questions. Cronbach's alpha, ranging from.71 to.82 among Germans and.77 to.87 among Canadians as well as the re-test reliability (from.80 to.85 among Canadians) were sufficient. The differential patterns of correlations between other constructs and the indices of test anxiety indicate good construct validity.     

Testing the Bivalent Fear of Evaluation Model of Social Anxiety: The Relationship between Fear of Positive Evaluation,Social Anxiety,and Perfectionism

The Bivalent Fear of Evaluation (BFOE) model of social anxiety proposes that fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) play distinct roles in social anxiety. Research is however lacking in terms of how FPE is related to perfectionism and how these constructs interact to predict social anxiety. Participants were 382 individuals from the general community and included an oversampling of individuals with social anxiety. Measures of FPE, FNE, perfectionism, and social anxiety were administered. Results were mostly consistent with the predictions made by the BFOE model and showed that accounting for confounding variables, FPE correlated negatively with high standards but positively with maladaptive perfectionism. FNE was also positively correlated with maladaptive perfectionism, but there was no significant relationship between FNE and high standards. Also consistent with BFOE model, both FNE and FPE significantly moderated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and social anxiety with the relationship strengthened at high levels of FPE and FNE. These findings provide additional support for the BFOE model and implications are discussed.     

大学生社会排斥对社交焦虑的影响：负面评价恐惧与人际信任的作用

为探讨大学生社会排斥对社交焦虑的影响以及负面评价恐惧和人际信任在二者之间的作用机制,研究采用大学生社会排斥问卷（SEQU）、社交焦虑量表（SASSCS）、负面评价恐惧量表（BFNES）及人际信任量表（ITS）对450名大学生进行测试。结果表明：（1）大学生社会排斥不仅对个体的社交焦虑水平产生影响,还会通过负面评价恐惧的中介作用对社交焦虑产生影响;（2）人际信任能够调节大学生社会排斥对社交焦虑的直接作用,具体而言,与高人际信任的大学生相比较,较低人际信任的大学生的社会排斥对社交焦虑的预测作用更加显著。     

大学生社会排斥对社交焦虑的影响：负面评价恐惧与人际信任的作用

为探讨大学生社会排斥对社交焦虑的影响以及负面评价恐惧和人际信任在二者之间的作用机制,研究采用大学生社会排斥问卷（SEQU）、社交焦虑量表（SASSCS）、负面评价恐惧量表（BFNES）及人际信任量表（ITS）对450名大学生进行测试。结果表明：（1）大学生社会排斥不仅对个体的社交焦虑水平产生影响,还会通过负面评价恐惧的中介作用对社交焦虑产生影响;（2）人际信任能够调节大学生社会排斥对社交焦虑的直接作用,具体而言,与高人际信任的大学生相比较,较低人际信任的大学生的社会排斥对社交焦虑的预测作用更加显著。     

负面评价恐惧与大学生网络过度使用的关系：社交焦虑和自我控制的中介作用

本研究以864名大学生为被试,探讨负面评价恐惧与网络过度使用的关系以及社交焦虑和自我控制在这一关系中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）负面评价恐惧与社交焦虑和网络过度使用之间均呈显著正相关,与自我控制存在显著负相关;（2）负面评价恐惧通过社交焦虑和自我控制的中介作用对网络过度使用产生影响,这一中介作用包含了三条路径：社交焦虑和自我控制的单独中介作用以及社交焦虑-自我控制的序列中介作用。这一结论有助于促进对大学生网络过度使用的干预与预防。     

Psychometric Properties of the Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale: Convergent,Discriminant, and Factorial Validity

Fear and avoidance of gaze are two features thought to be associated with problematic social anxiety. Avoidance of eye contact has been linked with such undesirable traits as deceptiveness, insincerity, and lower self-esteem. The Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale (GARS) is a self-report measure designed to assess gaze anxiety and avoidance, but its psychometric properties have only been assessed in one preliminary study. We further investigated psychometric properties of the GARS by assessing convergent and factorial validity. We obtained a two-factor solution: gaze anxiety and avoidance across situations (1) in general (GARS-General) and (2) related to dominance communication (GARS-Dominance). The GARS-General factor related more strongly to social anxiety than the GARS-Dominance, and convergent validity of the factors was supported by expected relationships with personality and social anxiety variables. Our results indicate that the GARS subscales are psychometrically valid measures of gaze aversion, supporting their use in future study of the relationship between social anxiety and eye contact behavior.     

The Common Beliefs Survey-III, The Situational Self-Statement, and Affective State Inventory and Their Relationship to Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation

The concept of irrational beliefs is central to rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). These beliefs are defined by their absolutist and dogmatic qualities. The terms absolutist and dogmatic are also characteristic of some personality constructs, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) being foremost among these. A relatively new personality construct, social dominance orientation (SDO) is similar to RWA in that both are excellent predictors of prejudice. As these two constructs are independent of each other, it has been suggested that they have different etiological underpinnings. The present study examined the relationship between the presence of irrational beliefs in people scoring high in RWA and SDO. Results suggest that high RWAs are more likely than high SDOs to endorse irrational beliefs. These findings add to the growing literature examining the relationship between these two personality constructs as well as suggesting possible implications for the use of REBT with clients scoring high on these personality dimensions.     

The structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: Theoretical and methodological considerations

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Zigmond - Snaith, 1983) is widely used; however, its factor structure is unclear, with studies reporting differing unidimensional, two-factor and three-factor models. We aimed to address some key theoretical and methodological issues contributing to inconsistencies in HADS structures across samples. We reviewed existing HADS models and compared their fit using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We also investigated methodological effects by comparing factor structures derived from Rasch and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) methods, as well as effects of a negative wording factor. An Australian community-dwelling sample consisting of 189 females and 158 males aged 17–86 (M = 35.73, SD = 17.41) completed the 14-item HADS. The Rasch Analysis, PCA and CFA all supported the original two-factor structure. Although some three-factor models had good fit, they had unacceptable reliability. In the CFA, a hierarchical bifactor model with a general distress factor and uncorrelated depression and anxiety subscales produced the best fit, but the general factor was not unidimensional. The addition of a negative wording factor improved model fit. These findings highlight the effects of differing methodologies in producing inconsistent HADS factor structures across studies. Further replication of model fit across samples and refinement of the HADS items is warranted.     

被动性社交网站使用与错失焦虑症：压力知觉的中介与乐观的调节

本研究为考察被动性社交网站使用对移动社交媒体环境下大学生错失焦虑症的预测,以及压力知觉的中介作用、乐观的调节作用与性别差异,选取443名大学生进行问卷调查。结果表明：（1）被动性社交网站使用通过直接预测与压力知觉的中介作效应两种方式作用于错失焦虑症;（2）乐观调节中介模型的直接路径,在低乐观水平下,被动性社交网站使用对错失焦虑症的预测作用显著;在高乐观水平下,该预测作用不显著;（3）中介效应与调节效应存在性别差异：在女生群体中,压力知觉的中介效应大于男生群体;而乐观的调节效应仅存在于男生群体中。     

Probing the history of social psychology,exploring diversity and views of the social: Publication trends in the European Journal of Social Psychology from 1971 to 2016

The European Journal of Social Psychology (EJSP), as the voice of the European Association of Social Psychology, aims to promote diversity and a distinctively ‘European’, more ‘social’, social psychology (SP). However, whether and how these objectives have been accomplished over time remains controversial. This article enters this debate, tracing the history of SP as depicted by EJSP publications, via two types of lexicometric analyses of all abstracts of the Journal (1971–2016). Themes, processes, methods, and their organisation in cycles and clusters over time, were identified and analysed. Regarding diversity, findings indicate that the publications reflect several of the new theoretical proposals that emerged over the years, but do not fully reflect the variety of perspectives and methods of the discipline. It further indicates that lately the ‘social’ is predominantly present in attention to pressing social issues, albeit the processes involved in them are mostly theorised at an individualistic level. This pattern suggests the importance of keeping open the quest for epistemological and methodological diversity, and of re-problematising what the ‘social’ in SP means. By contributing to mapping the history of SP, offering a more comprehensive and reflexive view for it, the present analyses also help in forging a stronger discipline.     

The Effect of Social and Situational Factors on the Intended Response to Aggression Among Adolescents

ABSTRACT

In this study, I explored intended response to aggression among adolescents. I drew hypotheses from social identity theory, cost/benefit considerations, and social information processing model. I asked 217 Jewish and Muslim male adolescents in this study to assess their intended use of aggression in 12 hypothetical conflict situations (vignettes), in which I manipulated the opponent's religion, gender, acquaintance, and severity of aggression. I mainly found that male adolescents respond to aggression by same-religion opponents more moderately than to cross-religion aggression; their response is more moderate to cross-gender aggression than to same-gender aggression; response is more moderate to the aggression of familiar opponents than to that of unfamiliar ones; and response is less severe toward moderate than toward severe aggression.