Abstract

VAGOS, Paula; PEREIRA, Anabela  and  BEIDEL, Deborah. Adapting and validating a measurement instrument for cognition in social anxiety. Aval. psicol. [online]. 2010, vol.9, n.3, pp.393-402. ISSN 1677-0471.

This work presents the Portuguese version of an instrument designed to measure cognition in social anxiety, The Social Thoughts and Beliefs Scale. The instrument was translated from English to Portuguese and the translation was evaluated by the thinking aloud method and back-translation. The Portuguese version was then applied to 937 youngsters in Portugal, both male and female. A sub-sample of 679 participants also filled out an instrument measuring social anxiety and social avoidance, which was used as criteria for construct validity assessment. The results suggest that the instrument is composed of two factors: discomfort in social interaction and discomfort in public performance. Validity and internal consistency indexes were adequate, pointing to good psychometric characteristics for the Portuguese version of the instrument. Further studies are now needed, namely to determine its utility as a tool for diagnostic and intervention efficacy assessment.

Keywords : Social anxiety; Cognition; Psychological assessment; Adolescence.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )