Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences Between American, Spanish and Chinese Adolescents Using the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A)

Background: Social anxiety is one of the most prevalent disorders among adolescents (Stein et al., 2017). The main aim of this study was to analyze the equivalence of scores on the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) using structural equation modeling and identify differences in latent means of social anxiety in China, Spain, and the USA. Method: Random sampling was used to recruit participants, which included 536 Chinese (46% girls), 1,178 Spanish (55.3% girls) and 866 North American (55.1% girls) adolescents. The participants' ages ranged between 14 and 17 years old. Results: The SAS-A three-factor correlated model of social anxiety remained invariant between the Spanish and North American adolescents, but results could not be replicated in the Chinese adolescents [M2 = Delta S-B-chi 2 (Delta df, p) = 4732.56 (36, < .01)]. Analyses of latent differences between Spain and the USA showed that Spanish adolescents had higher scores than North Americans for Fear of Negative Evaluation (TS =-9.630; d = .44) and for Social Avoidance and General Anxiety towards people (TS =-2.717; d = .12). Conclusions: The results are interpreted according to the cultural traits of individualism-collectivism and self-construal, and practical implications are discussed.