ERIC Number: EJ1465414
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1362-3613
EISSN: EISSN-1461-7005
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Suitability of the DSM-5 Social Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale for Autistic Adults
Simon G. Brett1,2; Jacquiline E. den Houting1; Melissa H. Black3,4; Lauren P. Lawson5,6; Julian Trollor6,7; Samuel R. C. Arnold6,8
Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, v29 n3 p659-672 2025
In autistic adults, measurement tools may not adequately differentiate between autistic characteristics and features of anxiety. This may be particularly evident in the case of social anxiety disorder; however, few measures of social anxiety disorder have been validated for autistic adults. Instead, assessments are often made using measures designed and validated for non-autistic adults. To address this, we examined the suitability of the self-report Severity Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder in 284 autistic adults. We evaluated its psychometric properties, explored a rescored version that aimed to account for autistic differences in reporting and conducted content analysis on qualitative feedback from autistic participants. Confirmatory Factor Analysis did not confirm the unidimensional structure of the Severity Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder for autistic adults and over half attributed at least one response to a factor other than social anxiety (e.g. fatigue). Exploratory Factor Analysis of a rescored version of the Severity Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder based on autistic adults' responses to reflect those just due to social anxiety, revealed that a two-factor solution was most appropriate, again suggesting social anxiety was not a solitary latent variable. Our findings recommend caution be applied when using the Severity Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder with autistic adults and our content analysis may inform more precise future measurement.
Descriptors: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Adults, Clinical Diagnosis, Comorbidity, Diagnostic Tests, Severity (of Disability), Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Evaluation Methods, Anxiety Disorders, Psychometrics, Test Validity, Foreign Countries, Anxiety
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Macquarie University, Australia; 2University of East Anglia, UK; 3Karolinska Institutet and Region Stockholm, Sweden; 4Curtin University, Australia; 5La Trobe University, Australia; 6Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Australia; 7UNSW Sydney, Australia; 8Western Sydney University, Australia