scholarly journals Screening Social Anxiety in Adolescents Through the Eyes of Their Carers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis-Joaquin Garcia-Lopez ◽  
Lourdes Espinosa-Fernandez ◽  
Jose-Antonio Muela-Martinez ◽  
Jose Antonio Piqueras

Despite the availability of efficacious treatment and screening protocols, social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents is considerably under-detected and undertreated. Our main study objective was to examine a brief, valid, and reliable social anxiety measure already tested to serve as self-report child measure but administered via Internet aimed at listening to the ability of his or her parent to identify social anxiety symptomatology in his or her child. This parent version could be used as a complementary measure to avoid his or her overestimation of children of social anxiety symptomatology using traditional self-reported measures. We examined the psychometric properties of brief and valid social anxiety measure in their parent format and administered via the Internet. The sample included 179 parents/legal guardians of adolescents (67% girls) with a clinical diagnosis of SAD (mean age: 14.27; SD = 1.33). Findings revealed good factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity. Data support a single, strength-based factor on the SPAIB-P, being structure largely invariant across age and gender. The limited number of adolescents with a performance-only specifier prevented examining the utility of scale to screen for this recently established specifier. It is crucial to evaluate if these results generalize to different cultures and community samples. The findings suggest that the SPAIB-P evidences performance comparable with child-reported measure. Parents can be reliable reports of the social anxiety symptomatology of the adolescent. The SPAIB-P may be useful for identifying clinically disturbed socially anxious adolescents.

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 264-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiara R. Timpano ◽  
Demet Çek ◽  
Liza M. Rubenstein ◽  
Dennis Murphy ◽  
Norman B. Schmidt

Loneliness, or perceived social isolation, is associated with a range of adverse physical and emotional outcomes. In particular, feeling lonely has been linked with anxiety, anger, stress, and depressive symptoms. Although loneliness has been extensively investigated with respect to depression and social anxiety, few studies have considered the relationship between loneliness and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS). Loneliness may be particularly relevant to OCS given the social stigma associated with obsessions and compulsions along with high comorbidity between OCS and depression. The overarching aim of this investigation was to examine the relationship between OCS and loneliness in a young adult sample (N = 395) recruited from a large university. Participants completed self-report measures of OCS, loneliness, depression, and social anxiety. Higher levels of OCS were associated with greater perceived loneliness, and this relationship remained significant despite controlling for depression and social anxiety. OCS had a significant association with the isolation facet of loneliness, and loneliness in turn was uniquely associated with obsessions and checking symptoms. Gender differences were examined, which indicated that females with high OCS endorsed the greatest levels of loneliness. Implications for clinical research and treatment are discussed.


1989 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Hart ◽  
Mark R. Leary ◽  
W. Jack Rejeski

A 12-item self-report scale was developed to assess the degree to which people become anxious when others observe or evaluate their physiques. The Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS) demonstrated both high internal and test-retest reliability. It also correlated appropriately with concerns regarding others' evaluations and with feelings about one's body. Validity data showed that women who scored high on the SPAS were heavier and had a higher percentage of body fat than those who scored lower. In addition, high scorers reported significantly greater anxiety during a real evaluation of their physiques, further supporting the validity of the scale. Possible uses of the SPAS in basic research involving physique anxiety and in applied fitness settings are discussed.


2007 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Ranta ◽  
Riittakerttu Kaltiala-Heino ◽  
Anna-Maija Koivisto ◽  
Martti T. Tuomisto ◽  
Mirjami Pelkonen ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rien van Dam-Baggen ◽  
Floris Kraaimaat

Summary: The purpose of this study was to develop a self-report questionnaire for the assessment of social anxiety in adults. The Inventory of Interpersonal Situations (IIS) consists of 35 items formulated as responses to specific social situations. The IIS is based on an interactive concept of social anxiety and provides scores for both a Discomfort and a Frequency scale. The reliability and validity of the IIS were investigated in several adult psychiatric and nonpsychiatric samples. The scales for Discomfort and Frequency showed stability over time. Cronbach's α's revealed a sufficiently high internal consistency on both scales, while the conceptual structure was shown to be rather invariant across socially anxious and nonsocially anxious groups. The IIS scales were able to discriminate between socially anxious and nonsocially anxious samples, and showed significant relationships with independent measures of social anxiety. The IIS scales demonstrated high predictive validity for overt behavior in social situations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-351
Author(s):  
Amanda Fitzgerald ◽  
Caroline Rawdon ◽  
Claire O’Rourke ◽  
Barbara Dooley

Abstract. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) is a 26-item, empirically derived, self-report measure, which assesses symptoms of social phobia based on DSM-IV criteria. Previous studies have examined the factor structure of the SPAI-C and suggested three-, four-, and five-factor models. However, differences in the underlying factor structures reported may be due to misuse of analytic methods or use of mixed samples, rather than meaningful differences in the underlying presentation of social anxiety. We tested all previously published factor structures in an Irish community-based adolescent sample. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and DSM-5 criteria supported the five-factor structure proposed by Aune, Stiles, and Svarva (2008) including Assertiveness, Physical/Cognitive Symptoms, Public Performance, Social Encounters, and Avoidance factors. Findings suggest that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) is relevant to DSM-5 criteria for social anxiety disorder (SAD) and is appropriate for use with older adolescents outside of the USA.


2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Graña Gómez ◽  
Jose Manuel Andreu ◽  
Heather Lynn Rogers ◽  
Juan Carlos Arango Lasprilla

The principal aim of this study was to analyze the structural dimensions of social representation of aggression through the Expressive Representations of Aggression Scale – EXPAGG (Campbell, Muncer, & Coyle, 1992). This scale is used in many studies of aggressive behavior among youth and in adolescent populations. Moreover, the EXPAGG is one of the self-report techniques most commonly used in the field of aggression research to measure expressive and instrumental attributions. This study uses various statistical procedures to analyze the data from a representative sample of adolescents in the community of Madrid to conclude that the EXPAGG is a reliable and valid test to measure different attribution styles of aggression in youth and adolescents. In addition, a tridimensional structure of social representation of aggression and a significant effect of age and gender were found.


1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 658-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa C. Davies ◽  
Robert S. McKelvey

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare levels of emotional and behavioural problems and competencies among immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents, and to determine factors that may contribute to any differences reported. Method: Subjects were selected randomly from students aged 12-16 years attending a high school with a high proportion of immigrants in Perth, Western Australia. Parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), and students completed the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and a Personal History Questionnaire. Results: On univariate analyses, non-immigrant adolescents had significantly higher CBCL and YSR scores than immigrant adolescents. Multivariate analyses suggested that CBCL scores were predicted by a number of variables other than immigration, including family intactness, socioeconomic status (SES) and gender. Higher YSR scores were predicted by non-intact families, school setting and non-immigrant status, and higher competencies scores were predicted by higher SES and parents not being immigrants. Conclusions: In assessing the effects of immigration on adolescent mental health, it is important to control for factors associated with adolescent behavioural and emotional problems and to use multiple informants. Overall, immigrant adolescents report fewer total and externalising problems and fewer competencies than native-born adolescents. This finding may reflect strict immigration policies or cultural differences in definitions of psychopathology and the social expectations for adolescents' behaviour.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa F. Wechsler ◽  
Michael Pfaller ◽  
Rahel E. van Eickels ◽  
Luise H. Schulz ◽  
Andreas Mühlberger

Background: Enhanced self-focused attention plays a central role in the maintenance and treatment of Social Anxiety and is targeted in contemporary cognitive behavioral therapy. Actual developments use Virtual Reality (VR) for behavioral training. However, no VR attention training combining exposure to public speaking with shifting attention from self-focus to external focus has been investigated, and no experimental evidence exists on different kinds of external cues as targets of attention. Therefore, we investigated the effects of an attention training during public speaking in VR and examined differential effects of an external focus on nonsocial vs. social stimuli.Methods: In this randomized controlled study, highly socially anxious participants were instructed to focus on either objects or the audience within a virtual speech task. We assessed the pre-post effects on affective reactions, self-perception, and attentional processes during public speaking as well as general Social Anxiety using subjective, physiological, and eye-tracking measures. Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were calculated to detect changes from pretest to posttest over both groups, and time × group interaction effects.Results: Within the analysis sample (n = 41), anxiety during public speaking and fear of negative evaluation significantly decreased, with no significant differences between groups. No significant time effect, but a significant time × group effect, was found for the looking time proportion on the audience members' heads. Follow-up tests confirmed a significant increase in the social-focus group and a significant decrease in the nonsocial-focus group. For all other variables, except external focus and fear of public speaking, significant improvements were found over both groups. Further significant time x group effects were found for positive affect during public speaking, with a significant increase in the social focus, and no significant change in the nonsocial-focus group.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that attention training to reduce self-focus can be successfully conducted in VR. Both training versions showed positive short-term effects in the highly socially anxious, with particular advantages of an external social focus concerning eye contact to the audience and positive affect. Further research should investigate whether social focus is even more advantageous long term and if reinterpretations of dysfunctional beliefs could be achieved by not avoiding social cues.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven G. Buzinski ◽  
Emma Armstrong-Carter ◽  
Jenna Clark

Active learning instructional techniques, often characterized by paired or small group work (e.g., problem solving, discussion), are typically associated with improved student performance. Socially anxious students may, however, experience unique interpersonal and learning challenges due to the social nature of these techniques. Despite its prevalence among college students, little research has examined how social anxiety relates to students experience of active learning, and whether socially anxious students derive the same benefits from it. Across three studies conducted in college classrooms (combined N = 569), we found that many college students met clinical thresholds for social anxiety (30.1%, 58.9%, and 61.3%), social anxiety was positively associated with discomfort in the active learning environment (r = .52, β = .61, and β = .65), early course performance did not moderate the social anxiety and active learning discomfort relationship (β = -.01 and β = .11), and even after controlling for GPA, social anxiety and active learning discomfort interacted to predict final course grades (β = -.22). These studies add nuance to the active learning literature, and suggest the need for further research on how to best utilize these techniques for socially anxious students.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsie Boulton ◽  
Adam Guastella

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at elevated risk for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Limited information exists on the appropriateness of using social anxiety instruments with these adults. This study examines psychometric properties of self-report social anxiety instruments in autistic adults without intellectual disability, compared to adults with SAD. Additionally, we compared instrument scores between autistic adults with a dual diagnosis of SAD and adults with SAD only. Adults diagnosed with SAD (N=316) or ASD (N=102) were recruited from the Brain and Mind Centre in New South Wales, Australia. Sixty autistic participants received a diagnosis of SAD. Participants completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-self-report, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Phobia Scale, and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. All instruments showed excellent internal consistency in autistic adults. Summary scores across instruments were strongly correlated within both groups, and the strength of these correlations were equivalent between ASD and SAD. For all instruments, the performance of autistic adults with a dual diagnosis of SAD was comparable to adults diagnosed with SAD only. Findings suggest that these instruments display adequate psychometric properties in autistic adults without intellectual disability, supporting the use of these instruments in clinical services.


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