Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Scale Development: Social Anxiety in College Freshmen

Publication Date

2024

College

Sciences and Mathematics, College of

Department

Psychological Science, Department of

SURS Faculty Advisor

Dr. Jessica Hocking

Presentation Type

Metadata Only

Abstract

Social anxiety is a prevalent and impactful condition that affects individuals’ abilities to navigate social and professional situations. Although there are many scales and measures for social anxiety, none look specifically at college freshmen, and many do not consider the physical symptoms of social anxiety. A Qualtrics survey was created with demographic questions, the scales being used for convergent and concurrent validity (SPIN, LSAS, AAS), and our scale. Participants were recruited via Belmont University’s SONA pool and consisted of Belmont University freshmen. To develop our measure, we first developed a detailed conceptualization of social anxiety based on theory. After we developed the item format and scoring system optimally suited for measuring social anxiety, based on our theoretical basis, we developed 24 items for the scale we created and titled the Social Anxiety Scale. For our scoring system, we utilized a 6-point Likert Scale with no neutral point. We sought to demonstrate convergent validity for our scale by being significantly associated with SPIN and LSAS, concurrent validity by significantly predicting academic adjustment, as well as reliability through internal consistency, split-half reliability, inter-item correlations, and item-total correlations. This study can be used further to understand social anxiety better, considering how it relates to attending university for the first time. It could also be implemented to assess college freshmen's possible stressors and pressures. Results and discussion are forthcoming.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS