Screening for social anxiety disorder with the self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined whether the self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS-SR) could accurately identify individuals with social anxiety disorder and individuals with the generalized subtype of social anxiety disorder. Furthermore, the study sought to determine the optimal cutoffs for the LSAS-SR for identifying patients with social anxiety disorder and its generalized subtype.


METHODS
Two hundred and ninety-one patients with clinician-assessed social anxiety disorder (240 with generalized social anxiety disorder) and 53 control participants who were free from current Axis-1 disorders completed the LSAS-SR.


RESULTS
Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses revealed that the LSAS-SR performed well in identifying participants with social anxiety disorder and generalized social anxiety disorder. Consistent with Mennin et al.'s [2002: J Anxiety Disord 16:661-673] research on the clinician-administered version of the LSAS, cutoffs of 30 and 60 on the LSAS-SR provided the best balance of sensitivity and specificity for classifying participants with social anxiety and generalized social anxiety disorder, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The LSAS-SR may be an accurate and cost-effective way to identify and subtype patients with social anxiety disorder, which could help increase the percentage of people who receive appropriate treatment for this debilitating disorder.
Rytwinski
Nina K
NK
Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
Fresco
David M
DM
Heimberg
Richard G
RG
Coles
Meredith E
ME
Liebowitz
Michael R
MR
Cissell
Shadha
S
Stein
Murray B
MB
Hofmann
Stefan G
SG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult