Brief Description
The Social Phobia Scale (SPS) measures performance-related social phobia in the form of being observed or judged during everyday activities such as eating, drinking, or walking around. This measure is useful as a screening tool and for tracking performance-related symptoms of social phobia and self-consciousness over time. Respondents rate the degree to which they feel each statement (e.g., “I become anxious if I have to write in front of other people”) on a scale from “Not at all” to “Extremely.”
Assessment Administration Type
Self-report
Number of questions
20
Age Range for Administration
18+
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No standardized frequency; recommend administering every other week or as clinically indicated.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The SPS contains 20 questions scored on a 5-point Likert scale with values from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Extremely). A total score is calculated by summing the item responses and ranges from 0 to 80; higher scores are associated with more social phobia/anxiety. Blueprint utilizes the cut-off score of 24 or above, which suggests presence of non-generalized social phobia (Heimberg et al., 1992).
Heimberg's study indicated the following means and standard deviations across three samples: those with social phobia, a community sample, and a sample of undergraduates.
Sample | Mean | Standard Deviation |
Social Phobia | 32.8 | 14.8 |
Community | 12.5 | 11.5 |
Undergraduates | 13.4 | 9.6 |
While from 1992, this is the only known available data to contextualize scores across clinical and community samples.
Blueprint Adjustments
N/A
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 2-5 minutes
This measure can is complemented by use of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), which is also available on Blueprint. In fact, using both scales is recommended for patients with generalized social phobia. These measures are complementary in that the SPS focuses on the fear of being observed and evaluated by others, while the SIAS measures anxiety felt during social interactions. They seem to assess distinct yet related constructs, with validity studies confirming the differentiation between anxiety related to social interactions (SIAS) and fears of being scrutinized (SPS).
Other studies suggest varying cut-off scores, such as Peters' recommendation of using a cut-off score of 27 or above for identifying likely presence of social phobia.
The SPS is meant to enhance clinical decision-making. It should not serve as the sole basis for making a diagnosis.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
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