The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale: a comparison of the psychometric properties of self-report and clinician-administered formats

Background. The clinician-administered version of the Liebowitz Social Anxi ety Scale (LSAS-CA) is a commonly used assessment device for the evaluation of social anxiety disorder and has been shown to have strong psychometric characteristics. Because of its apparently straightforward rating format an d potential savings in time and effort, interest in the use of the LSAS as a self-report (LSAS-SR) measure has increased, and the LSAS-SR has been use d in a number of studies. However, the psychometric properties of the LSAS- SR have not been well established. Methods. This study examined the psychometric properties of the LSAS-SR in comparison to the LSAS-CA in a sample of 99 individuals with a primary diag nosis of social anxiety disorder and 53 individuals with no current psychia tric disorder. Results. There was little difference between the two versions of the LSAS o n any scale or subscale score. Both forms were internally consistent and th e subscale intercorrelations for the two forms were essentially identical. Correlations of each LSAS-SR index with its LSAS-CA counterpart were all hi ghly significant. Finally, the convergent and discriminant validity of the two forms of the LSAS was shown to be strong. Conclusion. Results of this study Suggest that the self-report version of t he LSAS compares well to the clinician-administered version and may be vali dly employed in the assessment of social anxiety disorder.