A confirmatory composite analysis for the Italian validation of the interactions anxiousness scale: a higher-order version

Enrico Ciavolino,Giovanna Alessia Sternativo,Simone Rollo,Jun-Hwa Cheah,Tiziana Marinaci,Lucrezia Ferrante,Claudia Venuleo

doi:10.1007/s41237-021-00151-x

Enrico Ciavolino, Giovanna Alessia Sternativo + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41237-021-00151-x

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Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and model specifications of the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) with confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a sample of Italian adolescents (n = 764). The CCA and PLS-SEM results identified the reflective nature of the IAS sub-scale scores, supporting an alternative measurement model of the IAS scores as a second-order reflective–reflective model.

Highlights

Social anxiety is defined as “a state of anxiety resulting from the prospect or presence of interpersonal evaluation in real or imagined social settings” (Leary and Schlenker 1981)
The present study addresses the following objective: 1. to examined the factor structure and model specifications of the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) with confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) partial least squares (PLS) approach, that is to evaluate the presence of eventual sub-scales specific of Italian adolescents; 1 3
The decision of the reflective-reflective model is supported by the psychological theory at the base since it is the presence of a certain level of anxiety in the adolescent’s social interactions that gives rise to discomfort and sense of inadequacy in interactions, nervousness when interacting with authority figures, discomfort in unstructured interactions or to comfortability in interaction with unknown—the latter when such level is lower

Summary

Introduction

Social anxiety is defined as “a state of anxiety resulting from the prospect or presence of interpersonal evaluation in real or imagined social settings” (Leary and Schlenker 1981). Behaviormetrika interaction or/and at the prospect of participating in a particular encounter, across different social situations and time Starting from this premises, Leary (1983) has developed an instrument, namely “Interactions Anxiousness Scale (IAS)”, which aims to measure subjective anxiousness in specific social situations, by investigating the individual’s tendency to feel nervous in social encounters, independently of patterns of inhibited, reticent, or avoidant behaviour. IAS considers only the affective component of social discomfort (Leary and Kowalski 1993), differently from other instruments which in turn focus on cognitive aspects of the phenomenon, such as the “Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale” (Watson and Friend 1969) and the “Social Interaction Self-statement Test” (Glass et al 1982), or both affective and behavioural facets, such as the “Social Avoidance and Distress Scale” (Watson and Friend 1969) and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (Liebowitz 1987)

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