Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 44, Issue 4, December 2013, Pages 651-661
Behavior Therapy

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

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.04.011Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We used item response theory to develop a brief version of the SPIN

  • Our sample included 569 individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD)

  • We developed the Mini-SPIN-R, which has good psychometric properties

  • The Mini-SPIN-R was found to compare favorably to a previous brief version of the SPIN

  • The Mini-SPIN-R is a promising brief measure of social anxiety severity

Abstract

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.

Section snippets

Participants

The sample included 569 individuals with generalized SAD who were recruited as part of two treatment trials. Trial I was a three-site trial including Boston University, Southern Methodist University, and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Trial II was a three-site trial including McMaster University, University of California–San Diego, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Thus, data were combined from five sites across the U.S. and Canada. Participants were mostly male (62.12%) and the average

IRT Analysis of the Spin

The discrimination and threshold parameters for all 17 SPIN items appear in Table 1.1 Many of the SPIN items were better able to discriminate in lower levels of social anxiety in the present sample. Nine of the 17 items had three negative threshold (b) values indicating 3 discrimination levels of

Discussion

The present study used item response theory to examine the items of the SPIN. We found that Items 5 (fear of being criticized), 12 (avoidance of criticism), and 14 (fear of being watched) were the most sensitive items for assessing social anxiety among individuals with the disorder. All three items are different from the existing mini-SPIN items used to screen for SAD. This revised version of the mini-SPIN (mini-SPIN-R) has good reliability and validity properties, which make it a promising

Declarations of Interest

Dr. Aderka has no interests to declare.

Dr. Pollack is a consultant (or on the advisory board) for the following organizations: Brain Cells, Eli Lilly, Johnson and Johnson, Medavante, Labopharm, Mindsite, Sepracor, Targia Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. He is supported by research grants from Bristol Myers Squibb, Euthymics, Forest Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, NCCAM, NIDA, NIMH, Sepracor. He has received support from Astra-Zeneca, Sepracor, Pfizer, and has equity in Medavante, Mensante

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