Psychology, Department of
ORCID IDs
Date of this Version
3-2013
Citation
Behavior Therapy 44:1 (March 2013), pp. 1–11.
doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2012.07.006
Abstract
A number of self-report measures of social anxiety contain language that appears to assume heterosexuality. It is unclear how such items should be answered by individuals who are not exclusively heterosexual, which may lead to inaccurate measurement of symptoms, perpetuation of stigma, and alienation of respondents. More specific wording could improve measurement accuracy for sexual minorities as well as heterosexual respondents. Gender-neutral wording was developed for items containing the phrase “opposite sex” in commonly used self-report measures of social anxiety (Interaction Anxiousness Scale [Leary, 1983], Social Avoidance and Distress Scale [Watson & Friend, 1969], Social Interaction Anxiety Scale [Mattick & Clarke, 1998], and Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory [Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Stanley, 1989]). Undergraduate college students (N = 405; mean age = 19.88, SD = 2.05) completed measures containing original and revised items. Overall, results indicated that the alternate-worded items demonstrated equivalent or slightly stronger psychometric properties compared to original items. Select alternate-worded items are recommended for clinical and research use, and directions for future research are recommended.
Comments
Copyright © 2012 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies; published by Elsevier Ltd. Used by permission.