Social Phobia And Anxiety Inventory For Children Research Articles

School Functioning and Educational Aspirations in Adolescents With Social Anxiety-The Young-HUNT3 Study, Norway.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) typically emerges during childhood or early adolescence and often has long-term effects on several areas of an individual's life, including school and education. The purpose of this study is to examine whether social anxiety is associated with (1) school functioning in terms of behavioral difficulties (hyperactivity and/or attention problems), school dissatisfaction, social exclusion, truancy, and learning difficulties, and (2) educational aspirations (educational level). We use data from the population-based Young-HUNT3 study (2006–2008), where 8,199 Norwegian adolescents participated. Social anxiety is measured both as self-report [the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C)], and as screening information from diagnostic interviews [Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule for DSM IV: child version (ADIS-C)]. ADIS-C screening positives (n = 388) reported higher rates of behavioral difficulties (RR = 1.06), school dissatisfaction (RR = 1.15), social exclusion (RR = 1.24), truancy (RR = 1.05), and learning difficulties (RR = 1.10) compared to screened negatives. Self-reported social anxiety symptoms showed similar patterns. Further, higher mean scores of self-reported social anxiety symptoms and being ADIS-C screening positive were negatively associated with aspirations of higher education (OR = 0.92 and OR = 0.74, respectively). However, as regards to having aspirations for the future (aspirations of higher education and/or aspirations of vocational training), no associations were found. The results indicate that social anxiety in adolescence is related to unfavorable/poorer school functioning and lower tendency of aspirations of higher education, which may have consequences for future educational pathways and later work life.

Factor Structure of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children in an Irish Adolescent Population

Abstract. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) is a 26-item, empirically derived, self-report measure, which assesses symptoms of social phobia based on DSM-IV criteria. Previous studies have examined the factor structure of the SPAI-C and suggested three-, four-, and five-factor models. However, differences in the underlying factor structures reported may be due to misuse of analytic methods or use of mixed samples, rather than meaningful differences in the underlying presentation of social anxiety. We tested all previously published factor structures in an Irish community-based adolescent sample. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and DSM-5 criteria supported the five-factor structure proposed by Aune, Stiles, and Svarva (2008) including Assertiveness, Physical/Cognitive Symptoms, Public Performance, Social Encounters, and Avoidance factors. Findings suggest that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) is relevant to DSM-5 criteria for social anxiety disorder (SAD) and is appropriate for use with older adolescents outside of the USA.

日本の児童生徒における社会不安の特徴 : Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C)を用いた検討

日本の児童生徒における社会不安の特徴 : Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C)を用いた検討

Spiritual Education Program for Reducing Social Anxieties and Improving Social Interaction Skills Among Introverted Children: A Cross-Country Longitudinal Experimental Study

This article reports on a longitudinal experimental study with 3,227 introverted children aged 6–8 years from 15 countries on the effects of a spiritual education program (SEP) in reducing social interaction phobia and anxieties and improving social interaction skills. The pre- and post-test scores of the treatment group children were examined and compared with the scores of the control group on the following measures: the play interaction dimension of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS-PI), the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), and the Children’s Self-Efficacy in Peer Interaction Scale (CSPI). Results showed that the scores of the control group and pre-test scores of the treatment group were lower on the PIPPS-PI and CSPI and higher on the SPAI-C. Post-test or post-SEP scores of the treatment group children were higher on the PIPPS-PI and CSPI and lower on the SPAI-C. Boys, upper-middle-class children, Christians, children who lived with both their parents, children who did three or four rounds of the SEP, and children who regularly self-practiced scored higher on the PIPPS-PI post-test. Post-treatment CSPI scores were higher for children from affluent countries. The most effective predictors of higher post-test CSPI scores were the number of rounds of SEP and self-practice. Results suggest the importance of SEP for introverted children who experience social interaction anxieties.

Psychometric Properties of a Social Skills Assessment using a Virtual Environment

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a marked and persistent fear of social and/or performance situations in which embarrassment or scrutiny from others may occur. One form of behavioral assessment is a Role Play Task (RPT). However, RPTs often are not feasible in clinical settings due to the common obstacles in implementation. Thus, the current study examines the feasibility, acceptability and psychometric properties of a virtual environment based social skills assessment compared to the traditional RPT. Forty-six children, ages 7 to 14, participated in two assessment conditions: RPT and a virtual environment behavioral assessment (VE BAT). Participants reported self-ratings of anxiety and acceptability, while blinded observers rated social skills and overall social anxiety. An ANCOVA, covarying for age, revealed (a) no significant task difference for voice volume, speech latency, number of words spoken, effectiveness, and SAM ratings; (b) that the VE BAT was more feasible to implement in terms of personnel time and costs and; (c) more overall anxiety during the RPT task than during the VE BAT task. In addition, the VE BAT demonstrated moderate concurrent validity when correlating the self-report ratings of anxiety with the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C). The current study addresses many of the impediments to conducting RPTs in a clinical setting and, overall, supports the utilization of VE BATS as a viable alternative for the behavioral assessment of social skills in children. Further implications address the potential for the armamentarium for social skills training with children with SAD.

A randomized controlled trial of attention bias modification training for socially anxious adolescents

The current study aimed to examine the efficacy of attention bias modification (ABM) training to reduce social anxiety in a community-based sample of adolescents 15–18 years. The study used a single-blind, parallel group, randomized controlled trial design (Clinical Trials ID: NCT02270671). Participants were screened in second-level schools using a social anxiety questionnaire. 130 participants scoring ≥24 on the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) were randomized to the ABM training (n = 66)/placebo (n = 64) group, 120 of which completed pre-, post-, and 12-week follow-up data collection including threat bias, anxiety, and depression measures. The ABM intervention included 4 weekly training sessions using a dot-probe task designed to reduce attention bias to threatening stimuli. ABM training did not alter the primary outcomes of attention bias to threat or social anxiety symptoms raising questions about the efficacy of ABM as an intervention for adolescents.

Assessing social anxiety in African American youth using the social phobia and anxiety inventory for children.

Examined measurement invariance and cut-off scores of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) using data corresponding to a convenience sample of 501 African American and Caucasian youth (Mage = 11.62 years, 249 girls; 49% with social anxiety disorder) using exploratory structural equation modeling and a weighted least squares mean variance estimator. For the cut-off scores, Receiver Operator Characteristic analyses were used along with Youden’s index to evaluate the balance between sensitivity and specificity. Overall, results supported the SPAI-C’s cross-race invariance but a few items emerged as non-invariant. Compared to past research, lower SPAI-C cutoff scores were found (13 to 15 range). Findings support research showing that African American youth generally have significantly lower (or similar) social anxiety levels than their White counterparts. Suggestions for using the SPAI-C with African American under non-invariant conditions youth are provided and implications of using lower cutoff scores are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory-Child version in a Swedish clinical sample

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) is a 26 item, empirically derived self-report instrument developed for assessing social phobic fears in children. Evidence for satisfactory psychometric properties of the SPAI-C has been found in multiple community studies. Since its development, however, no study has presented an extensive psychometric evaluation of SPAI-C in a sample of carefully diagnosed children with social phobia. The present study sought to replicate and expand previous studies by administrating the SPAI-C to a sample of 59 children that fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for social phobia, and 49 children with no social phobia diagnosis. An exploratory factor analysis resulted in a three factor solution reflecting: (1) fear of social interactions, (2) fear of public performance situations, and (3) physical and cognitive symptoms connected with social phobia. These factors appear to parallel domains of social phobia also evident in adults. The SPAI-C total scale and each factor was found to possess good internal consistency, good test–retest reliability and was generally strongly correlated with both self-report and clinician measures of anxiety and fears. The discriminative properties of the total scale were satisfactory.

Psychometric Properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C)

Reliable and valid self-report questionnaires could be useful as initial screening instruments for social phobia in both clinical settings and general populations. The present study investigates the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) in a sample of 228 children from the Italian general population aged 8 to 11. The children were asked to complete the Italian version of the SPAI-C and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that social phobia can be conceptualized as a unitary construct consisting of five distinct but interrelated symptom clusters named Assertiveness, General Conversation, Physical/Cognitive Symptoms, Avoidance, and Public Performance. Internal consistency of the SPAI-C total scores and two subscales was good; correlations between SPAI-C total scores and SCARED total scores/subscales ranged from moderate to high (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, for social phobia), with the SCARED Social Phobia subscale as the best predictor of SPAI-C total scores. The results indicate that the SPAI-C is a reliable and sensitive instrument suitable for identifying Social Phobia in the young Italian general population.

A meta-analysis of the cross-cultural psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C)

Several studies have found that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), an empirically derived self-report instrument to assess DSM-IV social phobia in childhood and adolescence, has good psychometric properties. While these findings were replicated across different cultures, the overall strength of the psychometric properties of the SPAI-C remains unknown. We assessed the validity of the SPAI-C by meta-analytic techniques across studies collected from PubMed, PsycInfo and Eric databases, conducted in different countries, among subjects of different age, and sex. A total of 21 articles were retained, predominantly from Europe and North America. We found that the psychometric properties based on Cronbach alpha, mean score differences between sexes, and construct validity, were robust for the SPAI-C scale. Girls scored significantly higher than boys, and geographical differences played a moderating effect on sex-related score differences. These results further support the SPAI-C as an instrument to identify Social Phobia in youth.

Erratum to: Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R)

Erratum to: Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R)

Asthma and Social Anxiety in Adolescents

To examine the relationship between self-reported social anxiety and asthma in a non-clinical sample of adolescents. High school students (n = 765) completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A), the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), and questions on asthma diagnosis, asthma symptoms, and asthma-related limitations and medical care. Relationships were examined between social anxiety symptoms and asthma, including history of diagnosis, diagnosis plus current symptoms, and severity. Compared with students without an asthma diagnosis and no symptoms, students with a diagnosis and current symptoms reported heightened social anxiety symptoms related to fear of negative evaluations and generalized discomfort in social settings as measured by the SAS-A. Additionally, a greater proportion of students with an asthma diagnosis and current symptoms were in the clinical range of social anxiety on the SAS-A. Differences on the SAS-A by history of asthma diagnosis and by severity were not supported. No differences were found on the SPAI-C for history of asthma diagnosis, diagnosis plus current symptoms or severity. Students with current asthma symptoms were more likely to report social anxiety, perhaps related to concerns about exhibiting symptoms or taking medication in front of peers. These findings may suggest advantages for medical providers to identify and treat social anxiety in patients with asthma.

Trait anxiety in children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa

In this study of trait anxiety in children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa, a consecutive series of 23 newly admitted children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa was studied by use of the State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory, the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI), the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), and a structured psychiatric interview (DIPS: Diagnostisches Interview bei psychischen Störungen). In addition, clinical diagnoses were taken from the files. Trait anxiety was significantly increased at the time of admission and social phobia was present in a large proportion of the patients. Specific eating disorder psychopathology as measured by the EDI was significantly associated with trait anxiety. There were no clinical diagnoses (according to the International Classification of Diseases - Tenth Revision) of anxiety disorders. Features of anxiety are very common in young patients with anorexia nervosa and closely linked to specific psychopathology. Anxiety disorders need careful evaluation in these patients.

Psychometric evaluation of social phobia and anxiety inventory for children (SPAI-C) and social anxiety scale for children-revised (SASC-R)

The study evaluated the psychometric properties of Finnish versions of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised (SASC-R). 352 students (M = 12.2 years) participated in the study and completed the SPAI-C and SASC-R. In addition, 68 participants (M = 12.2 years) and their parents were interviewed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children (K-SADS-PL). The SPAI-C was more sensitive for identifying youth meeting criteria for social phobia (SP), whereas the SASC-R demonstrated greater specificity. The youth in this sample had lower mean total scores on the self-report questionnaires than did those in the original validitation studies of the SPAI-C and SASC-R conducted in America. These findings question whether cross-cultural differences in the expression of SP influence the clinical cut-off scores used in translated versions of social anxiety questionnaires.

Social Anxiety in High-functioning Children and Adolescents with Autism and Asperger Syndrome

We examined social anxiety and internalizing symptoms using the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), the Social Anxiety Scale for Children -Revised (SASC-R), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) in a sample of fifty-four high-functioning subjects with autism or Asperger syndrome (HFA/AS) (M = 11.2 +/- 1.7 years) and 305 community subjects (M = 12.2 +/- 2.2 years). Children and adolescents completed the SPAI-C and SASC-R, and their parents completed the CBCL Internalizing scale. Adolescents with HFA/AS scored higher than the community sample on all measures. Behavioural avoidance and evaluative social anxiety increased by age within the HFA/AS group, whereas behavioural avoidance decreased by age in control participants. Data support that HFA/AS in adolescents may be associated with clinically relevant social anxiety symptoms.

The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™) 4.0 as an assessment measure for depressive symptoms: A correlational study with young adolescents

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is today considered an important assessment measurement, but still only a few measures assess HRQOL outcomes for children and adolescents. One of them is the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™). This correlation study explored the associations between depressive symptoms in young adolescents and the PedsQL scores when controlling for known risk factors. An adolescent sample (n=425) completed a battery of measures including the PedsQL™ Norwegian version, the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire (SMFQ), the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for children (SPAI-C), and the occurrence of Stressful Life Events (SLE). The results showed a mild to moderate correlation between the measures PedsQL, SMFQ, SPAI-C and SLE. The presence of depressive symptoms significantly predicted the PedsQL scores for the adolescence, and explained 17% of the variance in outcome for the PedsQL Total Scale. The findings suggest that the PedsQL™ is an adequate assessment instrument regarding depressive symptoms in young adolescents, and can be useful in both clinical practice and further research as an assessment measure regarding children's mental health.

An Open-Label Trial of Escitalopram in Children and Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a highly prevalent and disabling disorder in children and adolescents. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a highly potent and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, escitalopram, in the treatment of SAD in children and adolescents. Twenty outpatients with a primary diagnosis of SAD were treated in a 12-week open trial with escitalopram. The primary outcome variable was the change from baseline to end point in Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale (CGI-I). Secondary efficacy measures included the CGI-Severity scale (CGI-S), the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), the Screen for Child and Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED)-Child and Parent version, and The Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Research Version (Y-QOL-R). On the CGI-I scale, 13 of 20 patients (65%) had a score < or =2, meaning response to treatment. All symptomatic and quality of life measures showed improvements from baseline to week 12, with large effect sizes ranging from 0.9 to 1.9 (all p < 0.001). Escitalopram was generally well-tolerated. These results suggest that escitalopram may be an effective and safe treatment for pediatric SAD. Future double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials are warranted.

Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children using a non-American population-based sample

Although previous studies have examined the factor structure of the SPAI-C, adequate factor analytic methodology has not been employed. This study explored the psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), using a non-American population-based sample of older children and young adolescents 11–14 years of age. Initially an exploratory factor analysis was conducted followed 1 year later by a confirmatory factor analysis. Five factors labeled Assertiveness, Public Performance, Physical/ Cognitive Symptoms, Social Encounter, and Avoidance were retained and confirmed. The Public Performance and Assertiveness factors were the most stable and consistent factors or traits of social anxiety over a 1-year period. Results revealed adequate concurrent validity, internal consistency and moderate 12-month test–retest reliability of the SPAI-C total scale. The SPAI-C was found to assess levels of both social anxiety and social anxiety disorder according to DSM-IV criteria. Findings suggest that the SPAI-C is applicable in clinical treatment studies designed to assess sensitivity to change in various aspects of social anxiety disorder.

Fragebogen zur Erfassung sozial ängstlicher Kognitionen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen

In our study we investigated the psychometric properties of the Socially Anxious Cognitions Scale for Children (SAKK). This scale is a measure designed for children and is based on the Children's Cognitive Assessment Questionnaire (CCAQ). We presented it to 600 pupils along with the German version of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C). The new instrument showed good psychometric properties. Normative values for the SAKK are presented for grades 3-6.

The extent of social anxiety in combination with mental disorders

The aim of the study was to investigate the extent of social anxiety in different mental disorders. A total of 341 patients aged 7-18 years participated in the study. To measure social anxiety, the German version (SPAIK) of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) was used. Subgroups were built dependent on mental disorders. A total score above 20, which was assumed to indicate social anxiety, was observed in children with selective mutism (n = 9; M = 22.68; SD = 11.29) and in children with Asperger's Syndrome (n = 7; M = 20.77; SD = 13.77). Patients who had the following mental disorders also showed a higher total score of social anxiety: obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia nervosa, schizophrenia, depression and conduct disorder. In none of these disorders, however, did the mean total score exceed the cut-off of 20.