title: Psychometric properties of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) in a longitudinal study of African Americans with anxiety disorders.
abstract: The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) is a widely used measure of social anxiety. However, no study has examined the psychometric properties of the LSAS in an African American sample. The current study examined the LSAS characteristics in 97 African Americans diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Overall, the original LSAS subscales showed excellent internal consistency and temporal stability. Similar to previous reports, fear and avoidance subscales were so highly correlated that they yielded redundant information. Confirmatory factor analyses for three previously proposed models failed to demonstrate an excellent fit to our data. However, a four-factor model showed minimally acceptable fit. Overall, the LSAS performed similarly in our African American sample as in previous European American samples. Exploratory factor analyses are warranted to determine whether a better factor structure exists for African Americans.
authors.affiliation: Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, USA. Courtney_Beard@brown.edu
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.forename: Benjamin F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Ethan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moitra
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Sibrava
authors.forename: Andri
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bjornsson
authors.forename: Risa B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Weisberg
authors.forename: Martin B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Keller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires