Abstract
The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a new instrument composed of social phobia and agoraphobia subscales. The latter scale is used to detect social anxiety that may result from agoraphobia. The SPAI's construct validity was assessed through several procedures. First, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to validate the existence of the two subscales. Second, exploratory factor analyses examined the underlying structure of the social phobia subscale. Third, a Q factor procedure determined if different anxiety diagnostic groups could be differentiated by their SPAI response pattern. The results confirmed the utility of the two SPAI subscales and identified a number of dimensions contained within the social phobia subscale which differed depending upon the specific subject sample. In addition, the complaints of social phobies appeared more homogeneous than those of an agoraphobic comparison group. The results are discussed in terms of construct validity and the sensitivity of the SPAI to various dimensions of social phobia fears.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beidel, D. C., Turner, S. M., Stanley, M. A., & Dancu, C. V. (1989). The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory: Concurrent and external validity.Behavior Therapy, 20, 417–427.
Cattell, R. B., Coulter, M. A., & Tsujioka, B. (1966). The taxonometric recognition of types and functional emergents.Handbook of multivariate experimental psychology. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Friedman, H. P., & Rubin, J. (1967). On some invariant criteria for grouping data.Journal of the American Statistical Association, 62, 1159–1178.
Goldfried, M. R., & D'Zurilla, T. J. (1969). A behavioral-analytic model for assessing competence. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.),Current topics in clinical psychology (First edition) (pp. 151–196). New York: Academic Press.
Lang, P. J. (1977). Physiological assessment of anxiety and fear. In J. D. Cone & R. P. Hawkins (Eds.),Behavioral assessment: New directions in clinical psychology (pp. 178–195). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Mezzich, J. E., Dow, J. T., Rich, C. L., Costello, A. J., & Himmelhoch, J. M. (1981). Developing an effective clinical information system for a comprehensive psychiatric institute. II. Initial evaluation form.Behavior Research and Instrumentation, 13, 464–478.
Rapee, R. M., Sanderson, W. C., & Barlow, D. H. (1988). Social phobia features across the DSM-III-R anxiety disorders.Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 10, 287–299.
Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L., & Lushene, R. E. (1970).The state-trait anxiety inventory: Test manual for form X. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Turner, S. M., & Beidel, D. C. (1989). Social phobia: Clinical syndrome, diagnosis and comorbidity.Clinical Psychology Review, 9, 3–18.
Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., & Larkin, K. T. (1986). Situational determinants of social anxiety in clinic and non-clinic samples: Physiological and cognitive correlates.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 523–527.
Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., Dancu, C. V., & Stanley, M. A. (1989). An empirically derived inventory to measure social fears and anxiety: The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory.Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1, 35–40.
Watson, D., & Friend, R. (1969). Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33, 448–457.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was supported in part by NIMH Grants 41852, 30915, 18269, and 16884.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Turner, S.M., Stanley, M.A., Beidel, D.C. et al. The social phobia and anxiety inventory: Construct validity. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 11, 221–234 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00960494
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00960494