A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity

Hillary K. Schiltz; Brooke E. Magnus; Alana J. McVey; Angela D. Haendel; Bridget K. Dolan; Rachel E. Stanley; Kirsten A. Willar; Sheryl J. Pleiss; Audrey M. Carson; Mary Carlson; Christina Murphy; Elisabeth M. Vogt; Brianna D. Yund; Amy Vaughan Van Hecke

doi:10.1177/1073191119851563

A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity

Hillary K. Schiltz, Brooke E. Magnus, Alana J. McVey, Angela D. Haendel, Bridget K. Dolan, Rachel E. Stanley, Kirsten A. Willar, Sheryl J. Pleiss, Audrey M. Carson, Mary Carlson, Christina Murphy, Elisabeth M. Vogt, Brianna D. Yund, Amy Vaughan Van Hecke

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15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An ongoing challenge for both research and clinical practice in ASD is the assessment of anxious symptomatology. Despite its widespread use in samples of youth with ASD, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) has not received psychometric evaluation within this population; thus, the validity of its use in research and clinical practice for ASD remains unclear. The present study conducted a psychometric analysis of caregiver and adolescent SAS-A forms in a sample of adolescents with ASD (N = 197). Results revealed (1) poor caregiver–adolescent item-level agreement, (2) a two-factor structure, (3) lack of measurement invariance between reporters, and (4) modest evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, findings suggest that this measure demonstrates reasonable psychometric properties in an ASD sample. Lack of measurement invariance, however, calls for careful interpretation of research involving the SAS-A in ASD samples, particularly when the primary goal is to compare adolescent and caregiver reports. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	100-115
Number of pages	16
Journal	Assessment
Volume	28
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119851563
State	Published - Jan 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the families for their participation in our research, as well as acknowledge the Marquette Autism Project undergraduate research team for their diligent work in the laboratory. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors would like to acknowledge grant support from the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin (ASSEW), Marquette University, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant Numbers KL2TR000056, UL1TR001436, and KL2TR001438.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.

Keywords

autism spectrum disorder
factor structure
measurement invariance
parent–child agreement
social anxiety
validity

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Schiltz, H. K., Magnus, B. E., McVey, A. J., Haendel, A. D., Dolan, B. K., Stanley, R. E., Willar, K. A., Pleiss, S. J., Carson, A. M., Carlson, M., Murphy, C., Vogt, E. M., Yund, B. D., & Van Hecke, A. V. (2021). A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity. Assessment, 28(1), 100-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119851563

Schiltz, HK, Magnus, BE, McVey, AJ, Haendel, AD, Dolan, BK, Stanley, RE, Willar, KA, Pleiss, SJ, Carson, AM, Carlson, M, Murphy, C, Vogt, EM, Yund, BD & Van Hecke, AV 2021, 'A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity', Assessment, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 100-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119851563

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abstract = "Social anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An ongoing challenge for both research and clinical practice in ASD is the assessment of anxious symptomatology. Despite its widespread use in samples of youth with ASD, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) has not received psychometric evaluation within this population; thus, the validity of its use in research and clinical practice for ASD remains unclear. The present study conducted a psychometric analysis of caregiver and adolescent SAS-A forms in a sample of adolescents with ASD (N = 197). Results revealed (1) poor caregiver–adolescent item-level agreement, (2) a two-factor structure, (3) lack of measurement invariance between reporters, and (4) modest evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, findings suggest that this measure demonstrates reasonable psychometric properties in an ASD sample. Lack of measurement invariance, however, calls for careful interpretation of research involving the SAS-A in ASD samples, particularly when the primary goal is to compare adolescent and caregiver reports. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed.",

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note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the families for their participation in our research, as well as acknowledge the Marquette Autism Project undergraduate research team for their diligent work in the laboratory. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors would like to acknowledge grant support from the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin (ASSEW), Marquette University, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant Numbers KL2TR000056, UL1TR001436, and KL2TR001438. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2019.",

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AU - Stanley, Rachel E.

AU - Willar, Kirsten A.

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AU - Carson, Audrey M.

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AU - Murphy, Christina

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N2 - Social anxiety is common among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An ongoing challenge for both research and clinical practice in ASD is the assessment of anxious symptomatology. Despite its widespread use in samples of youth with ASD, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) has not received psychometric evaluation within this population; thus, the validity of its use in research and clinical practice for ASD remains unclear. The present study conducted a psychometric analysis of caregiver and adolescent SAS-A forms in a sample of adolescents with ASD (N = 197). Results revealed (1) poor caregiver–adolescent item-level agreement, (2) a two-factor structure, (3) lack of measurement invariance between reporters, and (4) modest evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Overall, findings suggest that this measure demonstrates reasonable psychometric properties in an ASD sample. Lack of measurement invariance, however, calls for careful interpretation of research involving the SAS-A in ASD samples, particularly when the primary goal is to compare adolescent and caregiver reports. The implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

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A Psychometric Analysis of the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents Among Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Caregiver–Adolescent Agreement, Factor Structure, and Validity

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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