Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the characteristics of social anxiety in Japanese children using the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C; Beidel et al., 1995). 592 fifth grade students (305 boys, 287 girls) and 467 eighth grade students (230 boys, 236 girls, 1 did not indicate gender) were administered questionnaires on a classwide basis. Of the 26 SPAI-C items, 3 parallel tests consisting of 12-13 items were randomly assigned to the participants. Subsequently, analysis using item response theory was conducted. Results of confirmatory factor analysis supported a 3-factor model consisting of "performance", "social encounters", and "somatic symptoms", with a higher-order factor of "social anxiety". Girls reported stronger social anxiety compared to boys, and eighth graders had higher social anxiety than fifth graders. Furthermore, there was a tendency for the students to dichotomize into two groups, one whose social anxiety increases with social development and the other whose social anxiety returns to normal level. The present results suggested that age, gender, and the characteristics of the social situation influence the magnitude of child and adolescent social anxiety.
