Development and evaluation of the Social Anxiety and Depression Life Interference-24 (SADLI-24) inventory

Psychometric properties of the Child Anxiety and Depression Life Interference Scale - Young Adult version

OBJECTIVES

A life interference measure specifically designed for young adults with anxiety and depressive symptoms does not currently exist. This paper describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a brief self-report measure of life interference associated with young adult anxiety and depression, the Child Anxiety and Depression Life Interference Scale - Young Adult version (CADLIS-YA).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, correlational and exploratory factor analysis (EFA).

METHODS

Five-hundred and thirty-two participants aged 18-24 years recruited from an undergraduate and community sample completed the CADLIS-YA.

RESULTS

An EFA supported a three-factor model describing the impact of young adult anxiety and depression on social life, family and daily life interference. Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were good to excellent. Convergent validity was demonstrated, and the scale differentiated between young adults with and without elevated anxiety and depressive symptoms. Support for divergent validity was limited.

CONCLUSIONS

The CADLIS-YA is a reliable and valid life interference measure for young adults with symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is potentially suitable for administration in low-resource research settings and it has promise for use in clinical settings; however, it needs validation in a clinical sample.

Dimensionality, Reliability, Invariance, and Validity of the Multidimensional Social Anxiety Response Inventory-21 (MSARI-21)

Research shows that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is prevalent in the United States, and could interfere with many aspects of a person's life. Although numerous psychological instruments have been developed to measure presence and intensity levels of social anxiety, these instruments fail to capture the range of responses individuals use to mitigate the negative affect associated with the anxiety, namely alcohol use and anger distress. Recently, the Multidimensional Social Anxiety Response Inventory-21 (MSARI-21) was developed to address this limitation and increase our understanding of the complexity of social anxiety. We expand on this work by evaluating the psychometric properties of the instrument, using a combination of exploratory structural equation and bifactor modeling, and item response techniques. Across 2 studies, data indicated the presence of a strong, 3-factor structure (i.e., anger distress, alcohol reliance, and social avoidance), strong internal consistency, and evidence of both convergent and discriminant validity. In addition, results showed that the MSARI-21 multidimensional structure was invariant across gender. We conclude that the MSARI-21 is a valid and valuable tool for assessing individuals' responses to social anxiety, and that future research should evaluate the instrument within other samples to ensure its utility across clinical and subclinical populations.

The Anxiety Depression Distress Inventory-27 (ADDI-27): New Evidence of Factor Structure, Item-Level Measurement Invariance, and Validity

Three studies examining the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Anxiety Depression Distress Inventory-27 (ADDI-27) extended the initial instrument development studies for this recently introduced inventory. The ADDI-27 is an empirically derived short form of the Mood and Anxiety Questionaire-90 (MASQ-90) comprising three scales: Positive Affect, Somatic Anxiety, and General Distress. The main objectives of Study 1 (N = 700) were to examine the factor structure of the ADDI-27 and its measurement invariance across gender at the item level. The objective of Study 2 (N = 538) was to examine evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of scores on the ADDI-27. The objective of Study 3 (N = 240) was to assess further evidence for the nomological network and convergent and discriminant validity of the ADDI-27 scores. Results of exploratory structural equation modeling yielded strong support for a 3-factor model, with approximate fit indexes meeting or exceeding the conventional cutoffs. With p ≤ .001 as the criterion for detecting noninvariance, results of measurement invariance analysis suggested that all of the ADDI-27 items were invariant across gender. Results of multivariate validity analyses across 2 studies provided support for the convergent and discriminant validity of scores on the ADDI-27 scales.

The Social Anxiety and Depression Life Interference-24 Inventory: Classical and modern psychometric evaluations

Two instrument validation studies broadened the research literature exploring the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and concurrent validity of scores on the Social Anxiety and Depression Life Interference-24 Inventory (SADLI-24; Osman, Bagge, Freedenthal, Guiterrez, & Emmerich, 2011). Study 1 (N = 1065) was undertaken to concurrently appraise three competing factor models for the instrument: a unidimensional model, a two-factor oblique model and a bifactor model. The bifactor model provided the best fit to the study sample data. Study 2 (N = 220) extended the results from Study 1 with an investigation of the convergent and discriminant validity for the bifactor model of the SADLI-24 with multiple regression analyses and scale-level exploratory structural equation modeling. This project yields data that augments the initial instrument development investigations for the target measure.

Using a Recently Developed Self-Report Instrument to Assess Social Anxiety Life Interference in Individuals with Co-occurring Depression: A Known-Groups Analysis

Social anxiety is a common condition that often entails substantial adverse impacts on social, educational, and occupational functioning. Moreover, social anxiety often co-occurs with depression, making it difficult to distinguish the unique effects of each condition, which can pose a challenge to effective treatment planning and intervention. Until recently, clinicians have not had access to a validated psychometric instrument that measures the degree of life interference stemming from social anxiety, and that distinguishes life interference associated with social anxiety from that associated with depression. Fortunately, recent work has yielded a novel instrument that combines a measure of social anxiety life interference with a measure of depression life interference, providing a measure that can identify functional disruptions uniquely associated with social anxiety, and that may occur in the presence of comorbid depression. The present article reviews two studies describing the development and psychometric properties of the Social Anxiety and Depression Life Interference Inventory (SADLI-24) and adds to the existing literature by demonstrating the discriminative accuracy of the inventory using a “known-groups” methodology. The article concludes by providing recommendations for the practical application of the SADLI-24 and suggesting future directions for research with the instrument.