Concurrent Validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory

Authors

James D. Herbert, Medical College of Pennsylvania at EPPI
Alan S. Bellack, Medical College of Pennsylvania at EPPI
Debra A. Hope, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Debra A. Hope

Date of this Version

12-1991

Citation

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 13:4 (December 1991), pp. 357–368.

doi: 10.1007/BF00960447

Comments

Copyright © 1991 Plenum Publishing Corporation/Springer. Used by permission.

Abstract

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a new instrument designed to assess symptoms of social phobia. Although the scale has been shown to have a good test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity, no studies have examined its concurrent validity with respect to other measures of social anxiety and avoidance. In the present study, the relationship between the SPAI and several self-report measures of social anxiety was examined in a sample of 23 patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for social phobia. The relationship between the SPAI and other measures of psychopathology, as well as performance during a role play test and an impromptu speech, was also examined. The results strongly support the concurrent validity and the specificity of the SPAI. The Social Phobia subscale may be a better index of social anxiety symptoms than the Difference subscale.