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OBJECTIVES: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can be described as a clear and constant fear of the individual for being judged by others in the social milieu and being mocked by others. Although SAD is a treatable disorder, there is a diagnostic confusion due to many factors such as the difficulty in recognizing the symptoms of the disease. There are several scales currently available for SAD symptom measurement; however, some of them are long scales and should be answered by the patient and do not include physiologic manifestations. The Brief Social Phobia Scale (BSPS), which is a scoring system scored by the clinician, has an important place among these scales. There are three different subscales, which are fear, avoidance, and physiological symptoms on the BSPS. The aim of this study is to test the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the BSPS.
METHODS: The BSPS, sociodemographic data form, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI I–II), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale were applied to 55 patients with social phobia (31 males, 24 females) who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) criteria. Internal consistency of the scale was measured and the factor analysis was performed after applying Kaiser Meyer Olkin and Bartlett tests to assess the construct validity. To test the concurrent validity of the scale, Pearson correlation coefficient was computed between the BSPS and the LSAS. Its correlation with STAI I–II, BDI, BAI, and GAF was also investigated.
RESULTS: The Turkish version of the BSPS showed sufficient internal consistency. As a result of the factor analysis, a five-factor structure that accounts for 71.4% of the total variance was obtained and the loading of factors differs from the original study. Moderately strong correlation was found between the BSPS and the LSAS scores. There was a mild correlation between the total score of the BSPS and the STAI-I and BDI. There was a moderate correlation between the total scale score of the BSPS and the STAI-II and BAI scores.
CONCLUSIONS: As a result of the validity and reliability studies, it has been determined that the Turkish version of the BSPS can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool in detecting SAD. It was found that there were unique anxiety findings that distinguish SAD from the other anxiety disorders. It is thought that the inclusion of such important symptoms within the applied scale will also benefit clinical practice.