Development of a Taiwanese Version of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN-TA) in Adolescents

• Main Authors: Sheng-Chang Wang, 王聲昌
• Other Authors: 鄭泰安
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/06528066680939487610

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 預防醫學研究所 === 93 === Background: Social phobia (SP) is a common mental disorder with onset in adolescence. Most of the cases have a chronic course and are frequently comorbid with other mental disorders, such as depressive disorders, substance disorders and anxiety-spectrum disorders. In spite of the great impact on quality of life, interpersonal relationships and occupational functioning, the patients and clinicians usually neglect SP. To prevent the disorder, it is crucial to screen the susceptible subjects in the community and provide prompt intervention. Aims of the present study are to design and modify the self-administered Chinese Social Phobia Inventory for screening SP among Taiwanese adolescents. Method: Three hundred and sixty-nine subjects were recruited from the junior grades of three vocational colleges and completed the self-administered questionnaire. Diagnostic interviewing was conducted for 333 of the total participants by a psychiatrist with the Chinese version of Schedules of Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) to identify the social phobic cases. Then, the psychometric properties were examined. Result： Good internal consistency and criterion validity were obtained for both of the 17-item and 22-item versions of SPIN-TA. The optimal cut-off scores were 23 and 26 for DSM-IV definition, respectively. The items with best discrimination power were “fear of group activities”, “avoidance of speech”, “distressed by trembling or shaking”, ”fear of introducing oneself”, and ”fear of talking to strangers on phone”. There were similar cut-off points for cased defined by ICD-10-DCR, but the items with best discrimination were “bother by brushing”, “avoidance of embarrassment”, “fear of talking to strangers” and “distressed by trembling or shaking". Conclusions： SPIN-TA has been demonstrated to have satisfactory psychometric properties and can be employed as a screening tool for the detection of social phobia among Taiwanese adolescents in the community.