Probing the Structural Validity of the Self-Beliefs in Social Anxiety Scale (SBSA): Adaptation and Validation in a French-Speaking Community Sample

Clark and Wells' (1995) model of social phobia proposes that there are 3 types of maladaptive self-beliefs responsible for social anxiety (high standard, conditional, and unconditional beliefs). Wong and Moulds (2009) recently developed the 15-item Self-Beliefs Social Anxiety (SBSA) scale that measures the strength of the self-belief types proposed by this model. They tested the structural validity of the SBSA and found that a correlated 3-factor model best fitted the data. However, they conducted their analyses on an undergraduate sample restricted in terms of age range and educational levels. Additionally, no previous study has tested whether this 3-factor solution is replicable. Moreover, no cross-cultural adaptation of the scale has been conducted. The present study was designed to address these issues. We tested whether the SBSA best fit with a 3-factor solution among a French-speaking community sample (N = 611). Confirmatory factor analyses replicated the model implied by Wong and Moulds (2011a), and, more generally, the theoretical model of Clark and Wells (1995). Moreover, good scale reliability and concurrent validity were observed.