The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) is a self-report scale that measures distress when meeting and talking with others that is widely used in clinical settings and among

social anxiety Social anxiety is the anxiety and fear specifically linked to being in social settings (i.e., interacting with others). Some categories of disorders associated with social anxiety include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, autism spectrum dis ...

researchers. The measure assesses

social anxiety disorder Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impairing ability to function in at least some asp ...

, which is fear or anxiety about one or more social situations where the individual is subject to possible scrutiny.

Question breakdown, scoring and interpretation

Questions of the SIAS assess a client's fear of interacting in social situations, gauge emotional aspects of the anxiety response, and do not refer to social apprehensiveness or concern about others' opinions in a general sense. Though related, social interaction anxiety is different from social phobia which is defined as anxiety surrounding fear of being scrutinized in a social situation. The scale contains 15 items. The client rates how much each item relates to them on a 5-point scale as follows: * 0 points: Not at all characteristic of me * 1 point: Slightly characteristic of me * 2 points: Moderately characteristic of me * 3 points: Very characteristic of me * 4 points: Extremely characteristic of me The point values of the chosen answer choices are then summed to produce a total measure score. Sample items include "I worry about not knowing what to say in social situations" or "I am tense mixing in a group".

Clinical use

The SIAS measures social interaction anxiety, which refers to distress when meeting and talking with other people, whether they be friends, members of the opposite sex, or strangers. The main concerns include fears of being inarticulate, sounding boring, sounding stupid, not knowing what to say or how to respond, and being ignored. The scale specifically assesses anxiety experienced while interacting with others, not social phobia, which is more specifically fear of scrutiny when performing a task or being observed by others. The SIAS is similar to the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), a measure that mores specifically assesses social phobia. However, though the measure is not created to measure social phobia specifically, those with social phobia score high on the SIAS as social phobia and social interaction anxiety are related. The measure is able to discriminate between a normal population and a population that experiences social interaction anxiety, giving it substantial clinical utility. It can be used in clinics as a self-report screening tool in order to see if clients possess any social interaction anxiety. The SIAS discriminates between social anxiety and general anxiety as it has low associations with trait anxiety (a level of stress associated with an individual personality) and general distress. Beyond identifying those who experience social anxiety of some form, the scale can discriminate within the

class as well. Patients with

social phobia Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impairing ability to function in at least some as ...

score higher on the SIAS than other patients with another anxiety disorder, such as

generalized anxiety disorder Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry about events or activities. Worry often interferes with daily functioning. Individuals with GAD are often overly con ...

, or no disorder. In addition, patients with

panic disorder Panic disorder is a mental disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder, characterized by reoccurring unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear that may include palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath ...

and

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

score higher than patients with

specific phobia Specific phobia is an anxiety disorder, characterized by an extreme, unreasonable, and irrational fear associated with a specific object, situation, or concept which poses little or no actual danger. Specific phobia can lead to avoidance of the o ...

Reliability and validity

The SIAS has a

normal distribution In probability theory and statistics, a normal distribution or Gaussian distribution is a type of continuous probability distribution for a real-valued random variable. The general form of its probability density function is f(x) = \frac ...

of scores, with those that experience social interaction anxiety scoring high, supporting the view that the scale identifies general fear regarding social interactions.

Reliability

Evaluated through

Cronbach's alpha Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach's \alpha), also known as tau-equivalent reliability (\rho_T) or coefficient alpha (coefficient \alpha), is a reliability coefficient and a measure of the internal consistency of tests and measures. It was named after ...

, the SIAS demonstrates high levels of

internal consistency In statistics and research, internal consistency is typically a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same g ...

, meaning that different items on the test are correlated. In addition, the scale has high test-retest reliability, as it continues to correctly identify social anxiety and phobia after a period of time has passed.

Validity

The scale has high

discriminant validity In psychology, discriminant validity tests whether concepts or measurements that are not supposed to be related are actually unrelated. Campbell and Fiske (1959) introduced the concept of discriminant validity within their discussion on evaluating ...

; not only is it able to discriminate between those with social phobia and healthy volunteers, but also between several different types of social phobia and anxiety. The SIAS is significantly correlated with the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), consistent with the observation that social interaction fears and social phobia scrutiny fears co-exist, although they are still two different sets of symptoms. It is strongly related to other related measures of social anxiety and social phobia, including the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Mini Social Phobia Inventory (mini-SPIN), Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), the Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES), and the Interaction Anxiousness Scale. In addition, there are moderate to high correlations between the SIAS and other scales testing

fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

, depression, and

locus of control Locus of control is the degree to which people believe that they, as opposed to external forces (beyond their influence), have control over the outcome of events in their lives. The concept was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and has sinc ...

, which are all related to social anxiety. In addition, the SIAS responds to change and improvement in symptoms due to treatment.

Limitations

Although the SIAS is used widely in clinical psychology, it is not without its limitations. Because the scale is self-report subjects are able to falsify responses in order to be socially desirable. In addition, most items of the scale are scored in the same direction, allowing room for

response bias Response bias is a general term for a wide range of tendencies for participants to respond inaccurately or falsely to questions. These biases are prevalent in research involving participant self-report, such as structured interviews or surveys. R ...

. It is also difficult to discriminate between the fears of someone who experiences

and the more general worries of a patient with

, as patients who suffer from both disorders score higher on the SIAS than those with just social phobias. The SIAS is highly correlated with the SPS, suggesting that subjects from the community may not discriminate between the types of situations assessed in the two scales. However, this limitation is not present among undergraduates or patients with

. The SIAS has not been adequately assessed among an African American population, which is necessary as some concerns addressed in the SIAS may be more related to perceived scrutiny associated with being a member of a minority group.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Personality tests Anxiety screening and assessment tools