title: Investigating the construct validity of the SPAI-C: comparing the sensitivity and specificity of the SPAI-C and the SAS-A.
abstract: Investigates the construct validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) by comparing its sensitivity and specificity with another self-report measure of social anxiety, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A). Participants were 252 adolescents (124 males and 128 females) 13-17 years old. Adolescents completed the SPAI-C and the SAS-A and were interviewed using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child Version (ADIS-IV:C). Parents were also interviewed and composite diagnoses were formed. Youth were classified as socially phobic or non-anxious based on these composite diagnoses. By comparing clinical cutoff scores with diagnostic group classification, the sensitivity and the specificity of the SPAI-C and SAS-A were compared. Results indicated that the SPAI-C was a more sensitive measure than the SAS-A (61.5% vs. 43.6%) providing evidence of the scale's construct validity. The two measures were similar with regard to specificity (82.7% for both). Implications of these results for assessment and research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 238 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0308, USA. hnolan1@unl.edu
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inderbitzen-Nolan
authors.forename: Corrie A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Nicole D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: McKeon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires