Abstract
Investigating the empirical support of various assessment instruments, the evidence based assessment approach expands the scientific basis of psychotherapy. Starting from Hunsley and Mash’s evaluative framework, we critically reviewed the rating scales designed to measure social anxiety or phobia in youth. Thirteen of the most researched social anxiety scales for children and adolescents were identified. An overview about the scientific support accumulated by these scales is offered. Our main results are consistent with recent reviews that consider the Social Phobia and Anxiety Scale for Children (SPAI-C) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) among the most pertinent and empirically supported measures of social anxiety for youngsters. However, after considering the existing evidence, we highly recommend another couple of scales that proved to be empirically supported (i.e., the Social Phobia Inventory—SPIN, and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents—LSAS-CA).
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Notes
We used the terms Social Phobia (SP) and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) to refer to the diagnostic category and the term social anxiety to refer to levels along the normally distributed continuum.
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Acknowledgments
This work was possible with the financial support of the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007–2013, co-financed by the European Social Fund, under the project number POSDRU 89/1.5/S/60189 with the title “Postdoctoral Programs for Sustainable Development in a Knowledge Based Society”. We would also like to express our gratitude for the valuable input offered by [Ramona Moldovan] in rating all the assessment instruments presented in Tables 3 and 4.
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Tulbure, B.T., Szentagotai, A., Dobrean, A. et al. Evidence Based Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Social Phobia: A Critical Review of Rating Scales. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 43, 795–820 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0297-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0297-y