Psychometric Properties and Clinical Cut-Off Scores of the Spanish Version of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents

Abstract

This study examined the reliability and validity evidence drawn from the scores of the Spanish version of the Slovenian-developed Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SASA; Puklek, 1997; Puklek & Vidmar, 2000) using a community sample (Study 1) and a clinical sample (Study 2). Confirmatory factor analysis in Study 1 replicated the 2-factor structure found by the original authors in a sample of Slovenian adolescents. Test–retest reliability was adequate. Furthermore, the SASA correlated significantly with other social anxiety scales, supporting concurrent validity evidence in Spanish adolescents. The results of Study 2 confirmed the correlations between the SASA and other social anxiety measures in a clinical sample. In addition, findings revealed that the SASA can effectively discriminate between adolescents with a clinical diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and those without this disorder. Finally, cut-off scores for the SASA are provided for Spanish adolescents.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Higher Education (Ramón and Cajal Program RYC2005–93) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the first author, and from the Spanish Ministry of Higher Education (SEJ2004–07311/EDUC) for the second author.

Notes

For AFNE, boys (.90) and girls (.91). The alphas coefficients ranged on age between .88 and .91. For TISC, boys (.69) and girls (.77). The alphas ranged on age between .70 and .80. For Total score, boys (.87) and girls (.88). The alphas ranged on age between .85 and .90.

For AFNE, boys (.94) and girls (.96). The alphas coefficients ranged on age between .88 and .96. For TISC, boys (.79) and girls (.81). The alphas ranged on age between .75 and .85. Total score, boys (.90) and girls (.93). The alphas ranged on age between .91 and .93.