The Liebowitz social anxiety scale for children and adolescents: an initial psychometric investigation.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the psychometric properties of a newly developed clinician rating scale, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA).


METHODS
A total of 154 children and adolescents participated in an assessment consisting of a diagnostic interview, the LSAS-CA, and other measures of psychopathology and impairment. Sixty-one of these children also participated in a second LSAS-CA administration, by a different rater blind to diagnosis, within 7 days of the initial assessment.


RESULTS
High internal consistency (alpha =.90-.97 for full sample and.83-.95 for social phobia group) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.89-0.94) were obtained for LSAS-CA total and subscale scores. LSAS-CA scores had stronger associations with measures of social anxiety and general impairment than with a measure of depression. Subjects with social anxiety disorder had significantly higher LSAS-CA scores than subjects with other anxiety disorders and healthy controls. A LSAS-CA cutoff score of 22.5 represented the best balance of sensitivity and specificity when distinguishing between individuals with social phobia and normal controls, whereas a cutoff of 29.5 was optimal for distinguishing social phobia from other anxiety disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
Initial findings suggest that the LSAS-CA is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of social anxiety disorder.
Masia-Warner
Carrie
C
New York University School of Medicine, Child Study Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. carrie.masia@med.nyi.edu
Storch
Eric A
EA
Pincus
Donna B
DB
Klein
Rachel G
RG
Heimberg
Richard G
RG
Liebowitz
Michael R
MR
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity