Psychometric Properties of Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) Among University Students

Movahedian, Zahra; Nadi, Mohammad Ali; Pazhoohi, Tahereh

doi:10.29252/mejds.0.0.55

Volume 12 - Articles-1401 MEJDS (2022) 12: 76 | Back to browse issues page

‎ 10.29252/mejds.0.0.55

‎ 20.1001.1.23222840.1399.0.0.56.5

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Movahedian Z, Nadi M A, Pazhoohi T. Psychometric Properties of Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) Among University Students. MEJDS 2022; 12 :76-76
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1445-en.html

Psychometric Properties of Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) Among University Students

Zahra Movahedian¹

, Mohammad Ali Nadi ^*²

, Tahereh Pazhoohi¹

1- Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch
2- Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch

Abstract: (4315 Views)

Background & Objectives: Social anxiety is defined as persistent and obvious fear of social and functional conditions. As a result, this belief occurs in the person who has acted shamefully and embarrassingly in this situation and others will judge him negatively. Prominent models of social anxiety emphasize the role of cognitive factors in creating this disorder. Cognitive models state that self-related beliefs are an essential factor in the persistence of social anxiety disorder. The Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30), originally designed to assess the social anxiety of Spanish students (12), is a self-report instrument that measures the level of social anxiety. This questionnaire is a multidimensional tool that measures social anxiety in people. One of the most important issues in the constructing questionnaires is that the measurement and test tools have desirable psychometric properties. Accordingly, the current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) and the standardization of SAQ-A30 among university students.
Methods: In terms of objectives and methodology, this research was applied and developmental research, respectively. Out of the statistical population, 389 students of the Islamic Azad University of Yazd City, Iran were selected by convenience sampling. Then, they completed the SAQ-A30 (Caballo et al., 2010) and the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) (Connor et al., 2000). For reliability assessment, using SPSS, the internal consistency method and the Cronbach α coefficient were employed. Additionally, for construct validity assessment, using LISREL, a confirmatory factor analysis was run. For convergent validity evaluation, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used at a significance level of 0.01. Initially, the English version of SAQ-A30, i.e., approved by the designers, was translated to Farsi. Then, the study questionnaires were distributed among the study samples. The instructions on responding to the questionnaires were explained to the study subjects. Besides, the respondents were assured that their collected information would remain confidential.
Results: The analysis data revealed that the Cronbach α coefficient for the whole SAQ-A30 was 0.88. The α values for the subscales of speaking in public; interaction with the opposite sex; assertive expression of annoyance, disgust, and displeasure; criticism and embarrassment; and interaction with strangers, were respectively obtained as 0.67, 0.74, 0.60, 0.72, and 0.68. The result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the items of the SAQ-A30, using LISREL indicated that this scale has 5 factors with good fit indices. The fit indices were AGFI=0.86, RMSEA=0.05, CFI=0.96, NFI=0.91, and GFI=0.88. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the components of speaking with people in authority (r=0.451, p=0.001), interactions with the opposite sex (r=0.614, p=0.001), assertive expression of annoyance, disgust, and displeasure (r=0.518, p=0.001), critique and embarrassment (r=0.489, p=0.001), and interactions with strangers (r=0.610, p=0.001), and the total scale (r=0.573, p=0.001) had a positive and significant relationship with Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN).
Conclusion: The present research findings support that SAQ-A30 is an appropriate diagnostic tool for identifying social anxiety among adults.

Keywords: Psychometric properties, Social Anxiety Questionnaire, Reliability, Validity

Full-Text [PDF 791 kb] (888 Downloads)

Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Psychology

References

1. Bögels SM, Wijts P, Oort FJ, Sallaerts SJM. Psychodynamic psychotherapy versus cognitive behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder: an efficacy and partial effectiveness trial. Depress Anxiety. 2014;31(5):363–73. [DOI]

2. Sadock VA, Sadock BJ. Kaplan and Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry. 10th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2015.

3. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub; 2013.

4. Taylor CT, Cross K, Amir N. Attentional control moderates the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and attentional disengagement from threatening information. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2016;50:68–76. [DOI]

5. Ruscio AM, Brown TA, Chiu WT, Sareen J, Stein MB, Kessler RC. Social fears and social phobia in the USA: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Psychol Med. 2008;38(1):15–28. [DOI]

6. Clark DM, Wells A. A Cognitive model of social phobia. In: Social phobia: diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. New York: The Guilford Press; 1995. pp: 69–93.

7. Hofmann SG. Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications. Cogn Behav Ther. 2007;36(4):193–209. [DOI]

8. Adelipoor Z, Javadi A, Kareshki H. Validation and adaptation of Self-Beliefs Related to Social Anxiety Scale (SBSA). Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2015;7(4):1–12. [Persian] [DOI]

9. Clark DM, McManus F. Information processing in social phobia. Biol Psychiatry. 2002;51(1):92–100. [DOI]

10. Cooney RE, Atlas LY, Joormann J, Eugène F, Gotlib IH. Amygdala activation in the processing of neutral faces in social anxiety disorder: Is neutral really neutral? Psychiatry Res. 2006;148(1):55–9. [DOI]

11. Wallin U, Runeson B. Attitudes towards suicide and suicidal patients among medical students. Eur Psychiatry. 2003;18(7):329–33. [DOI]

12. Caballo V, Salazar I, Arias B, Irurtia M, Calderero M, Graña J, et al. Validation of the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) with Spanish university students: similarities and differences among degree subjects and regions. Behavioral Psychology/ Psicologia Conductual. 2010;18:5–34.

13. Calvete E, Riskind JH, Orue I, Gonzalez-Diez Z. Recursive associations among maladaptive cognitions and symptoms of social anxiety and depression: Implications for sex differences. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 2016;35(10):807–21. [DOI]

14. Caballo VE, Salazar IC, Irurtia MJ, Arias B, Hofmann SG. Differences in social anxiety between men and women across 18 countries. Pers Individ Dif. 2014;64:35–40. [DOI]

15. Caballo VE, Arias B, Salazar IC, Irurtia MJ, Hofmann SG, CISO-A Research Team. Psychometric properties of an innovative self-report measure: The Social Anxiety Questionnaire for adults. Psychol Assess. 2015;27(3):997–1012. [DOI]

16. Allen MJ, Yen WM. Introduction to measurement theory. Reissued: Waveland Press; 2002.

17. Connor KM, Davidson JR, Churchill LE, Sherwood A, Foa E, Weisler RH. Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). New self-rating scale. Br J Psychiatry. 2000;176:379–86. [DOI]

18. Hassanvand Amouzadeh M, Shairi MR, Bagheri A. Validity and reliability of Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) on nonclinical Iranian sample. In: The First National Health Conference. Ahvaz, Iran: Islamic Azad University; 2007.

19. Caballo V, Salazar I, Irurtia M, Arias B, Nobre-Sandoval L. The assessment of social anxiety through five self-report measures, LSAS-SR, SPAI, SPIN, SPS, and SIAS: A critical analysis of their factor structure. Behavioral Psychology/Psicologia Conductual. 2013;21(3):423–48.

20. Caballo VE, Salazar IC, Irurtia MJ, Arias B, Hofmann SG, CISO-A Research Team. The multidimensional nature and multicultural validity of a new measure of social anxiety: The Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults. Behav Ther. 2012;43(2):313–28. [DOI]