Validation of diagnostic scales of social anxiety in a Russian adolescent sample

Abstract

This article is devoted to the validation of Social Avoidance and Distress Scale - SADS (D. Watson, R. Friend, 1969) and a Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale - BFNE (Leary, MR, 1983) - two questionnaires for the study of social anxiety in the modern adolescent sample. 246 students of Moscow schools and colleges were involved in the study. It has been shown that the sex and age factors do not affect social anxiety, test responses are normally distributed. Standard intervals were identified for both questionnaires. Both questionnaires also showed high internal consistency and internal validity. In order to test the external validity of the questionnaires part of the sample filled out M. Kovac's childhood depression and A.M. Prihozhan's trait anxiety scales, previously validated in Russian adolescent samples. The resulting correlations confirm the external validity of the scales.