Psychometric Properties of the Ryerson Social Anxiety Scales – Persian Version (RSAS-P)

The Ryerson Social Anxiety Scales (RSAS) are a new measure to assess the severity of social anxiety symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to develop the Persian version of the Ryerson Social Anxiety Scales (RSAS-P) and examine its factor structure, measurement invariance, reliability and validity from different dimensions in both the general population and individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) as well as its treatment sensitivity. This research involved 1023 participants from various normal and pathological groups. The RSAS was translated to Farsi and administered to all participants. Participants also completed the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE-S) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-P-Short). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensional structure of the RSAS-P. The RSAS-P showed excellent internal consistency. Correlations between RSAS-P and other related and distinct conceptual measures supported the discriminant validity of RSAS. The reliability test results were satisfactory. The RSAS was also sensitive to changes in the severity and status of social anxiety following treatment. Findings suggest that the Persian version of the RSAS is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the severity of social anxiety symptoms in Iranian samples. However, further psychometric evaluation of the questionnaire is recommended.