Psychometric properties of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale in Hungarian adults and adolescents

Urdu Adaptation and Validation of Social Interaction Anxiety Scale: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) is a globally used scale for clinical diagnostic purposes for social anxiety disorder (SAD). This article investigates the psychometric properties of the SIAS, followed by its adaptation and validation in Urdu. The study consisted of two phases. The initial phase involved the translation of the scale, and the second phase was of a cross-sectional nature and consisted of evaluating factor structure and psychometric properties of the scale. For this purpose, the study enrolled a purposive sample of 573 adults aged between 18 to 45 years (mean [standard deviation (SD)] age: 23.68 [4.28] years) with a diagnosis of SAD. The sample was recruited from educational institutes, hospitals, and clinics in Lahore, Pakistan. The data was collected using a demographic form and the Urdu version of the SIAS, along with the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI). The analyses of the study were carried out using SPSS V27 and AMOS V24. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a single factor structure of the Urdu version of the SIAS consisting of 16 items. The psychometric values of the scale shown were excellent, as Cronbach's alpha equaled 0.91, convergent validity r equaled 0.37 at p less than 0.01 with psychological inflexibility, and discriminant validity r equaled -0.47 at p less than 0.01 with psychological flexibility. The study concluded that the Urdu version of the SIAS was a valid and reliable measure for the assessment of social anxiety in the Pakistani population.

Psychiatric morbidity among patients suffering from Vitiligo

Background

Vitiligo is a chronic acquired, stigmatizing disease characterized by discoloration of skin and mucous membranes. Patients suffering from this condition suffer from a lack of confidence and psychological stress.

Aim

To assess depression, anxiety, and social anxiety among patients suffering from vitiligo.

Material and Method

This hospital-based cross-sectional, observational, descriptive study was carried out in a tertiary care center on 100 patients suffering from vitiligo, who were consecutively enrolled after informed consent from the outpatient department (OPD) of the dermatology department. Permission was obtained from the institutional ethics committee Diagnosis of vitiligo was made by two consultants from the department of dermatology. Sociodemographic variables were recorded in the sociodemographic form. The General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) was applied to all 100 patients. Patients who scored >3 on GHQ-12 were further subjected to the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. Results were statistically analyzed on SPSS-22.0 (IBM, Armonk, USA).

Results

Of all the patients, 55% (n = 55) had a GHQ score >3 (i.e., Psychiatric morbidity was present in 55% of patients.). Out of 50 patients in the age group of 18-25 years, 41 patients in the age groups of 26-35 years, and 9 patients in the age groups of 36-45 years, 22 (44%), 17 (42.1%), and 6 patients had psychiatric morbidity, respectively. Of the total number of patients, 46% had depression according to the HAM-D scale. Of all the patients, 18% had mild, 22% had moderate, and 6% had severe depression. Age-wise analysis showed that out of 50 patients in the age group of 18-25 years, 41 patients in the age group of 26-35 years, and 9 patients in the age group of 36-45 years, 22 (44%), 20 (48.7%), and 4 patients had depression, respectively. Of the patients who had depression, 39% were male and 58% were female. On HAM-A, 47% of the patients had anxiety; 33% had mild, 12% had moderate, and 2% had severe anxiety. Age-wise analysis showed that out of 50 patients in the age group of 18-25, 41 patients in the age group of 26-35 years, and 9 patients in the age group of 36-45 years, 20 (40%), 23 (56.1%), and 3 patients had anxiety, respectively. On SIAS, 36% of the patients had social anxiety. Out of 50 patients in the age group of 18-25 years, 41 patients in the age group of 26-35 years, and 9 patients in the age group of 36-45 years, 23 (46%), 9 (7.8%) and 4 patients had social anxiety, respectively. According to gender-wise distribution, 17% of male and 63% of female patients had social anxiety.

Conclusion

A high prevalence of anxiety, depression, and social anxiety has been observed in this present study. Therefore, importance should be given to psychiatric evaluation of such patients and, if required, necessary interventions should be undertaken to improve their quality of life.

Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies

Although fear plays a vital role in survival, an overly active threat detection system could be maladaptive due to its negative health consequences. Putatively maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies are a core problem in phobias. In contrast, adaptive ER strategies could help downregulate the emotion elicited by a threatening stimulus and decrease anxiety. Yet, the number of studies directly examining the pattern of ER strategies linked to various phobias is still scarce. Thus, this study sought to map the patterns of adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies linked to the three most common phobias (social, animal, and blood-injection-injury [BII]). A total of 856 healthy participants filled out our survey including self-reported measures of social anxiety, snake-, spider-, BII phobia, and cognitive ER strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects between the variables. The results show that social anxiety and animal phobia were linked to both adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies, while BII was only associated with maladaptive ones. Further analyses showed that the most prominent ER strategies differed by subtype. This is in line with previous neuroimaging studies claiming that the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying phobias are also different. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.

Measuring social phobia symptoms in a community sample of adolescents: An examination of the psychometric properties of the SPAI-23

A number of studies to date examine dimensions of social phobia and anxiety in adolescents. A variety of tools has been developed, along with their abbreviated versions, that are used to assess Social Anxiety (SA) but little research has been devoted to the types of fears they each assess. Due to differences in the content of the multitude of instruments, different aspects of SA are addressed and this leads to confusion when the relationship between SA and other constructs is being investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the abbreviated Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory SPAI-23 in Greek-Cypriot community adolescents and describe dimensions of social fears at that age. Seven hundred twenty-one adolescent students from Cyprus, (Mean Age: 15.5, Range: 13-19, SD: 1.12, 64% female) participated in the study. Participants completed, among others, an abbreviated version of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI-23). Exploratory Factor Analysis on the SPAI-23 revealed a quite similar structure to the original questionnaire (SPAI). Three Social Phobia factors, describing distinct socially fearful situations, were identified (Performance, Interaction, and Presence in a social context) and one Agoraphobia factor after the evaluation of alternative solutions. Findings were verified by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, testing alternative models. Overall, findings were in line with recent evidence on youth samples, and contribute to significant insights towards more sophisticated and personalized assessments.

Measurement Invariance of Two Different Short Forms of Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) in Chinese and US Samples

Abstract. The goal of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of two different commonly used short forms of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) across Chinese and US samples. Participants were 850 (52% females) Chinese and 399 (57% females) US undergraduate students. A two-factor model was identified as the best fitting baseline model for both short-forms of the SIAS and SPS. Full scalar invariance was established for the Peters short form, whereas the Fergus short form only achieved partial scalar invariance. Results of structured means analysis indicated that Chinese participants scored higher than US participants in social anxiety. Some cultural implications for the use of these two sets of short forms are discussed.