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Anxiety of Social Performance: How amazing are the science and research findings behind the Liebowitz scale?
Social anxiety disorder, or social phobia, is an invisible obstacle for many people.This emotional disorder causes the patient to feel excessive fear and anxiety in social situations or performances.In 1987, Dr. Michael Liebowitz developed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) to help diagnose social anxiety disorders and understand its scope.
Background and purpose of the scale
LSAS consists of 24 items, 13 of which are focused on performance anxiety and 11 are focused on social situations.The original intention of this scale was to help doctors evaluate the degree of fear patients feel during social interactions and performance occasions.The emergence of this tool marks a new stage in the research on social anxiety disorder and has become an important resource for clinical trials and treatment effectiveness evaluation.
Social phobia is defined as the constant fear of being embarrassed or being negatively evaluated about social interactions and public performance.
Rating method
LSAS scores are based on items on the scale, and participants first need to evaluate their fear in a specific social situation and then evaluate their avoidance to that situation.The final score is to add the total scores of fear and avoidance, with a score ranging from 0 to 144. The higher the score, the stronger the anxiety level.
Study shows that those with scores over 90 are extremely likely to have social anxiety disorders, and are often accompanied by huge pain and social function disorders.
Reliability and validity of scale
Many studies have verified the reliability and effectiveness of LSAS.In a 1992 study, Heimberg et al. found that the score of LSAS is highly correlated with the scores of other social anxiety assessment tools.Related studies also show that LSAS has extremely high internal consistency and is a trustworthy tool in social anxiety assessment.
All subscale tests of LSAS show high retest reliability, which makes it highly potential in clinical applications.
Self-rated questionnaire and youth version
LSAS can not only be managed by clinicians, but also has a self-reported version (LSAS-SR), and is widely used in research in different ethnic groups.In addition, the LSAS-CA version for children and adolescents also demonstrates high reliability and effectiveness, providing an important basis for research on improving social anxiety among adolescents.
Future direction of research
Although LSAS has an important role in the study of social anxiety disorder, further research is still needed to expand its application.More empirical research will help to gain a deep understanding of different types of social anxiety disorders and the effects of these anxiety in daily life.
Social anxiety has affected countless people's lives, but through tools like LSAS, we can gain a deeper understanding and fight this invisible challenge.So, how can we effectively help ourselves or others overcome the constraints of social anxiety?
