Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R)

Kuusikko Sanna (1) , Pollock-Wurman Rachel (2) , Ebeling Hanna (1) , Hurtig Tuula (1) , Joskitt Leena (1) , Mattila Marja-Leena (1) , Jussila Katja (1) , Moilanen Irma (1)

1 Dept. of Child Psychiatry, Child Psychiatric Clinic
2 Massachusetts General Hospital [Boston]

The study evaluated the psychometric properties of Finnish versions of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised (SASC-R). 352 students (M = 12.2 years) participated in the study and completed the SPAI-C and SASC-R. In addition, 68 participants (M = 12.2 years) and their parents were interviewed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children (K-SADS-PL). The SPAI-C was more sensitive for identifying youth meeting criteria for social phobia (SP), whereas the SASC-R demonstrated greater specificity. The youth in this sample had lower mean total scores on the self-report questionnaires than did those in the original validitation studies of the SPAI-C and SASC-R conducted in America. These findings question whether cross-cultural differences in the expression of SP influence the clinical cut-off scores used in translated versions of social anxiety questionnaires.

Mots clés: social anxiety; social phobia; SPAI-C; SASC-R

Kuusikko Sanna, Pollock-Wurman Rachel, Ebeling Hanna, Hurtig Tuula, Joskitt Leena, et al.. Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R). European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008, 18 (2), pp.116-124. ⟨10.1007/s00787-008-0712-x⟩. ⟨hal-00478070⟩