Social Anxiety in Chinese- and European-Heritage Students: The Effect of Assessment Format and Judgments of Impairment

We examined whether social anxiety resulted in different levels of perceived impairment in first- and second-generation students of Chinese heritage (ns = 65 and 47) compared to their European-heritage counterparts (n = 60). We also used a modified version of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS-IV) to determine whether the 3 groups responded differently to the social demands inherent in interview-based assessment compared to questionnaires. First-generation Chinese participants reported significantly greater social anxiety and impairment than the European heritage group in response to both interviews and questionnaires. The results argue against the notion that social anxiety is perceived to cause less impairment in Chinese North Americans or that interview-based assessment has a differential effect on the Chinese- and European-heritage groups.