Reliability of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) Portuguese version in a heterogeneous sample of Brazilian university students

Abstract

To evaluate internal consistency and temporal stability trough test re-test reliability of the Portuguese version of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) in a heterogeneous Brazilian sample. After informed consent, the translated and adapted version of the SPAI Portuguese was tested and re-tested at a 14-day interval in a sample of 225 university students, both genders, from 4 different undergraduate courses. After double data entry, statistical analysis included Cronbach's alphas, Pearson and intra-class correlation coefficients. The studied sample consisted of 213 students from 4 sub-samples: 95 law students, 31 social communication students, 54 civil engineering students and 33 dental medicine students. The mean age was 23 (+/-6) years and 110 (51.6%) were female. The Cronbach' alpha was 0.96, no difference for both genders. The differential (total) score of the SPAI Portuguese showed Pearson coefficient 0.83 (95% CI 0.78-0.87) and Intra-class coefficient 0.83 (95% CI 0.78-0.86). There was no statistical difference in Pearson coefficients between genders (p = 0.121) and the 4 sub-samples (p = 0.258). The results do not ensure validity, however, the SPAI Portuguese version presented a good content homogeneity with satisfactory level of internal consistency. The temporal stability evaluated was substantial. The results showed that the Portuguese SPAI presents perfectly acceptable reliability for both genders and suggest that it can be used in Brazilian populations.