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Validation of the Older Adult Social Evaluative Scale (OASES) as a measure of social anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2018

Brian C. Kok Open the ORCID record for Brian C. Kok [Opens in a new window] ,
Vanessa K. Ma  and
Christine E. Gould
Brian C. Kok
Affiliation:
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, California, USA
Vanessa K. Ma
Affiliation:
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, California, USA
Christine E. Gould*
Affiliation:
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Christine E. Gould, PhD, Palo Alto Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, GRECC (182B), 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto, California 94304, USA. Phone: (650) 493-5000. Email: Christine.Gould@va.gov.
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Abstract

Background:

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) (formerly called social phobia) is among the most common mental health diagnoses among older adults; however, the research on late-life social anxiety is scarce. A limited number of studies have examined the assessment and diagnosis of social anxiety disorder in this population, and there are few social anxiety measures that are validated for use with older adults. One such measure, the Older Adult Social Evaluative Scale (OASES), was designed for use with this population, but until now has lacked validation against a gold-standard diagnostic interview.

Methods:

Using a sample of 47 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60 years and over) with anxiety, the present study compared OASES performance to that of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders (SCID-5), as well as other measures of anxiety and depression.

Results:

The OASES demonstrated convergent validity with other measures of anxiety, and demonstrated discriminant validity on other measures (e.g. depression, somatic symptoms). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that a cut-point of ≥76 optimized sensitivity and specificity compared to SCID-5 derived diagnoses of social anxiety disorder.

Conclusions:

This study is the first study to provide psychometric validation for the OASES and one of the first to administer the SCID-5 to an older adult sample. In addition to establishing a clinically significant cut-off, this study also describes the clinical utility of the OASES, which can be used to identify distressing situations, track anxiety severity, and monitor behavioral avoidance across a variety of social situations.

Keywords

older adultssocial anxietyDSM-5measure validation
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 30 , Issue 9: Issue Theme: Quality of Care for Frail Older Adults , September 2018 , pp. 1323 - 1332
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2018 

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