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The Factor Structure of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents: Development of a Brief Version

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Abstract

The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA-SR) is a validated instrument for the assessment of social anxiety in youth. The three main objectives of the present study were to (a) examine the factor structure of the LSAS-CA-SR; (b) to validate the factors against relevant personality measures, and (c) to create a brief and reliable version of the questionnaire. A total of 1,362 adolescents completed self-report measures of social anxiety, temperament, character and personality traits. The factor structure was examined using a combination of confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. The analysis was conducted on both the anxiety and avoidance sub-scales, and identical items for both sub-scales were maintained. Two factors emerged: social interaction and school performance. These factors demonstrated high internal consistency and a significant correlation with relevant self-report measures. A brief version comprised of 14 items was highly correlated (0.96) with the full version. The new factor structure represents advancement over the previous efforts, and holds promise for efficient utilization of the LSAS-CA.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Israeli Science Foundation, Grant 455-10 awarded to Eva Gilboa-Schechtman.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Gonda Brain Science Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Iris Shachar & Eva Gilboa-Schechtman

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Israel

    Idan M. Aderka

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  1. Iris Shachar
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  2. Idan M. Aderka
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  3. Eva Gilboa-Schechtman
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Correspondence to Iris Shachar.

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Shachar, I., Aderka, I.M. & Gilboa-Schechtman, E. The Factor Structure of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents: Development of a Brief Version. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 45, 285–293 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-013-0398-2

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