The Appraisal of Social Concerns Scale: Psychometric Validation With a Clinical Sample of Patients With Social Anxiety Disorder

The Appraisal of Social Concerns (ASC) Scale was created by Telch et al. (2004) to improve upon existing self-report measures of social anxiety–related cognition. In a largely nonclinical sample, the ASC was found to possess three factors and was psychometrically sound. In a smaller clinical sample, the ASC demonstrated sensitivity to the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy. In the present study, the psychometric properties of the ASC were examined in a larger sample of patients with social anxiety disorder. In this sample, the ASC exhibited a 2-factor structure; the nature of the factors was similar to the primary factors originally reported by Telch et al. The ASC also demonstrated strong validity, internal consistency, and sensitivity to treatment effects. It is concluded that the ASC may be useful in the assessment of cognition and cognitive change in patients with social anxiety disorder.