University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Behav Ther. 2013 Mar;44(1):1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2012.07.006. Epub 2012 Aug 4.
A number of self-report measures of social anxiety contain language that appears to assume heterosexuality. It is unclear how such items should be answered by individuals who are not exclusively heterosexual, which may lead to inaccurate measurement of symptoms, perpetuation of stigma, and alienation of respondents. More specific wording could improve measurement accuracy for sexual minorities as well as heterosexual respondents. Gender-neutral wording was developed for items containing the phrase "opposite sex" in commonly used self-report measures of social anxiety (Interaction Anxiousness Scale [Leary, 1983], Social Avoidance and Distress Scale [Watson & Friend, 1969], Social Interaction Anxiety Scale [Mattick & Clarke, 1998], and Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory [Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Stanley, 1989]). Undergraduate college students (N=405; mean age=19.88, SD=2.05) completed measures containing original and revised items. Overall, results indicated that the alternate-worded items demonstrated equivalent or slightly stronger psychometric properties compared to original items. Select alternate-worded items are recommended for clinical and research use, and directions for future research are recommended.
一些用于测量社交焦虑的自陈式量表中包含了一些似乎假设受访者为异性恋的语言。对于那些并非完全异性恋的个体来说，他们应该如何回答这些项目并不清楚，这可能会导致症状的测量不准确、污名的持续存在以及受访者的疏远。更具体的措辞可以提高对性少数群体以及异性恋受访者的测量准确性。在常用的社交焦虑自陈式量表中（交互焦虑量表[Leary，1983]、社交回避及苦恼量表[Watson & Friend，1969]、社交互动焦虑量表[Mattick & Clarke，1998]和社交恐惧症和焦虑量表[Turner、Beidel、Dancu 和 Stanley，1989]），对于包含“异性”一词的项目，已经开发出了性别中立的措辞。大学生（N=405；平均年龄=19.88，SD=2.05）完成了包含原始和修订项目的量表。总的来说，结果表明，与原始项目相比，替代措辞的项目表现出同等或稍强的心理测量特性。建议在临床和研究中使用某些替代措辞的项目，并为未来的研究提供了方向。
