Volume 18, Number 2, 116-124, DOI: 10.1007/s00787-008-0712-x

Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R)

Kuusikko Sanna, Pollock-Wurman Rachel, Ebeling Hanna, Hurtig Tuula, Joskitt Leena, Mattila Marja-Leena, Jussila Katja and Moilanen Irma

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Abstract

The study evaluated the psychometric properties of Finnish versions of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised (SASC-R). 352 students (M = 12.2 years) participated in the study and completed the SPAI-C and SASC-R. In addition, 68 participants (M = 12.2 years) and their parents were interviewed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children (K-SADS-PL). The SPAI-C was more sensitive for identifying youth meeting criteria for social phobia (SP), whereas the SASC-R demonstrated greater specificity. The youth in this sample had lower mean total scores on the self-report questionnaires than did those in the original validitation studies of the SPAI-C and SASC-R conducted in America. These findings question whether cross-cultural differences in the expression of SP influence the clinical cut-off scores used in translated versions of social anxiety questionnaires.

Keywords  social anxiety - social phobia - SPAI-C - SASC-R

An erratum to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00787-010-0100-1

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