title: Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) Short Form: Longitudinal Measurement Invariance in Two Community Samples of Youth.
abstract: In this study, we examined the longitudinal measurement invariance of a 12-item short version of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) in two 4-year longitudinal community samples ( Nsample 1= 815, MageT1= 13.38 years; Nsample 2= 551, MageT1= 14.82 years). Using confirmatory factor analyses, we found strict longitudinal measurement invariance for the three-factor structure of the SAS-A across adolescence, across samples, and across gender. Some developmental changes in social anxiety were found from early to mid-adolescence, as well as gender differences across adolescence. These findings suggest that the short version of the SAS-A is a developmentally appropriate instrument that can be used effectively to examine adolescent social anxiety development.
authors.affiliation: 1 KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Nelemans
authors.affiliation: 2 Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.|3 Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim H J
authors.initials: WHJ
authors.lastname: Meeus
authors.affiliation: 2 Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Susan J T
authors.initials: SJT
authors.lastname: Branje
authors.affiliation: 1 KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Leeuwen
authors.affiliation: 1 KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Colpin
authors.affiliation: 1 KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verschueren
authors.affiliation: 1 KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goossens
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A); adolescence; developmental trends; gender differences; longitudinal measurement invariance; social anxiety symptoms