Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Social Anxiety - Acceptance and Action Questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
Social anxiety disorder is often related to specific impairment or distress in different areas of life, including occupational, social and family settings.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the persian version of the social anxiety-acceptance and action questionnaire (SA-AAQ) in university students.


METHODS
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 324 students from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences participated via the cluster sampling method during year 2015. Factor analysis by the principle component analysis method, internal consistency analysis, and convergent and divergent validity were conducted to examine the validity of the SA-AAQ. To calculate the reliability of the SA-AAQ, Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability were used.


RESULTS
The results from factor analysis by principle component analysis method yielded three factors that were named acceptance, action and non-judging of experience. The three-factor solution explained 51.82% of the variance. Evidence for the internal consistency of SA-AAQ was obtained via calculating correlations between SA-AAQ and its subscales. Support for convergent and discriminant validity of the SA-AAQ via its correlations with the acceptance and action questionnaire - II, social interaction anxiety scale, cognitive fusion questionnaire, believability of anxious feelings and thoughts questionnaire, valued living questionnaire and WHOQOL- BREF was obtained. The reliability of the SA-AAQ via calculating Cronbach's alpha and test-retest coefficients yielded values of 0.84 and 0.84, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The Iranian version of the SA-AAQ has acceptable levels of psychometric properties in university students. The SA-AAQ is a valid and reliable measure to be utilized in research investigations and therapeutic interventions.
PhD in Clinical Psychology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran.
Esmail
E
Soltani
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Ayatollah Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Seyed Abdolmajid
SA
Bahrainian
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Ayatollah Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Abbas
A
Masjedi Arani
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Substance Abuse and Dependence Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Ali
A
Farhoudian
Professor of Infectious Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
Latif
L
Gachkar
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Reliability; Social Anxiety-Acceptance and Action Questionnaire; Validity