Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:42:39.448Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edn, Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.Google Scholar
Byers, A. L., Yaffe, K., Covinsky, K. E., Friedman, M. B. and Bruce, M. L. (2010). High occurrence of mood and anxiety disorders among older adults: the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67, 489–496.Google Scholar
Cairney, J., McCabe, L., Veldhuizen, S., Corna, L. M., Streiner, D. and Herrmann, N. (2007). Epidemiology of social phobia in later life. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 224–233.Google Scholar
Canuto, A. et al. (2017). Anxiety disorders in old age: psychiatric comorbidities, quality of life, and prevalence according to age, gender, and country. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2017.08.015.Google Scholar
Carstensen, L. L. (2006). The influence of a sense of time on human development. Science, 312, 1913–1915.Google Scholar
Charles, S. T. and Luong, G. (2013). Emotional experience across adulthood: the theoretical model of strength and vulnerability integration. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 443–448.Google Scholar
Chou, K. L. (2009). Social anxiety disorder in older adults: evidence from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. Journal of Affective Disorders, 119, 76–83.Google Scholar
Ciliberti, C., Gould, C., Smith, M., Chorney, D. and Edelstein, B. (2011). A preliminary investigation of developmentally sensitive items for the assessment of social anxiety in late life. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 686–689.Google Scholar
Cornwell, B., Laumann, E. O. and Schumm, L. P. (2008). The social connectedness of older adults: a national profile. American Sociological Review, 73, 185–203.Google Scholar
First, M. B., Williams, J. B. W., Karg, R. S. and Spitzer, R. L. (2015). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5—Research Version (SCID-5 for DSM-5, Research Version; SCID-5-RV). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Fresco, D. M., Mennin, D. S., Heimberg, R. G. and Turk, C. L. (2003). Using the penn state worry questionnaire to identify individuals with generalized anxiety disorder: a receiver operating characteristic analysis. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34, 283–291.Google Scholar
Gierk, B. et al. (2014). The somatic symptom scale–8 (SSS-8): A brief measure of somatic symptom burden. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174, 399–407.Google Scholar
Gould, C. E., Gerolimatos, L. A., Ciliberti, C. M., Edelstein, B. A. and Smith, M. D. (2012). Initial evaluation of the older adult social-evaluative situations questionnaire: a measure of social anxiety in older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 24, 2009–2018.Google Scholar
Gould, C. E., Ma, V. K., Kok, B. C., Wetherell, J. L., O'Hara, R. and Beaudreau, S. A. (2017, November). A pilot RCT of video-delivered relaxation treatment to reduce late-life anxiety. In J. Gallegos and K. Van Orden (eds.), CBT in Older Adults: Treatment Targets and Modified Strategies. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Diego, CA.Google Scholar
Grant, B. F. et al. (2005). The epidemiology of social anxiety disorder in the United States: results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 66, 1351–1361.Google Scholar
Gretarsdottir, E., Woodruff-Borden, J., Meeks, S. and Depp, C. A. (2004). Social anxiety in older adults: phenomenology, prevalence, and measurement. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 459–475.Google Scholar
Hedberg-Kristensson, E., Ivanoff, S. D. and Iwarsson, S. (2007). Experiences among older persons using mobility devices. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 2, 15–22.Google Scholar
Katzman, R., Brown, T., Fuld, P., Peck, A., Schechter, R. and Shimmel, H. (1983). Validation of a short orientation-memory-concentration test of cognitive impairment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 734–739.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O. and Walters, E. E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 617–627.Google Scholar
Kogan, J. N., Edelstein, B. A. and McKee, D. R. (2000). Assessment of anxiety in older adults: current status. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 14, 109–132.Google Scholar
Krasucki, C., Howard, R. and Mann, A. (1998). The relationship between anxiety disorders and age. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 79–99.Google Scholar
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L. and Williams, J. B. (2001). The PHQ‐9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16, 606–613.Google Scholar
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L. and Williams, J. B. (2002). The PHQ-15: validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 258–266.Google Scholar
Martin, K. A., Leary, M. R. and Rejeski, W. J. (2000). Self-presentational concerns in older adults: implications for health and well-being. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 22, 169–179.Google Scholar
Metz, C. E. (1978). Basic principles of ROC analysis. Seminars in Nuclear Medicine, 8, 283–298.Google Scholar
Petkus, A. et al. (2017). Age differences in death and suicidal ideation in anxious primary care patients. Clinical Gerontologist. Epub ahead of print. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2017.1356893.Google Scholar
Reynolds, K., Pietrzak, R. H., El-Gabalawy, R., Mackenzie, C. S. and Sareen, J. (2015). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in US older adults: findings from a nationally representative survey. World Psychiatry, 14, 74–81.Google Scholar
Segal, D. L., Hersen, M., Van Hasselt, V. B., Kabacoff, R. I. and Roth, L. (1993). Reliability of diagnosis in older psychiatric patients using the structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 15, 347–356.Google Scholar
Segal, D. L., June, A., Payne, M., Coolidge, F. L. and Yochim, B. (2010). Development and initial validation of a self-report assessment tool for anxiety among older adults: the geriatric anxiety scale. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 709–714.Google Scholar
Shaw, B. A., Krause, N., Liang, J. and Bennett, J. (2007). Tracking changes in social relations throughout late life. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 62, S90–S99.Google Scholar
Wolitzky‐Taylor, K. B., Castriotta, N., Lenze, E. J., Stanley, M. A. and Craske, M. G. (2010). Anxiety disorders in older adults: a comprehensive review. Depression and Anxiety, 27, 190–211.Google Scholar
Yochim, B. P., Mueller, A. E., June, A. and Segal, D. L. (2010). Psychometric properties of the geriatric anxiety scale: comparison to the beck anxiety inventory and geriatric anxiety inventory. Clinical Gerontologist, 34, 21–33.Google Scholar
Youden, W. J. (1950). Index for rating diagnostic tests. Cancer, 3, 32–35.Google Scholar
Zweig, M. H. and Campbell, G. (1993). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) plots: a fundamental evaluation tool in clinical medicine. Clinical Chemistry, 39, 561–577.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kok et al. supplementary material

Kok et al. supplementary material 1

Download Kok et al. supplementary material(File)
File 29 KB