A new inventory for assessing cognitions in social phobia: The validity and reliability study of the Turkish version of the social thoughts and beliefs scale

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of The Social Thoughts and Beliefs Scale (STABS), developed for assesing cognitions in social phobia by Turner and et al. (2003). STABS was administered  532 university students (343 female and 188 male) from two diffirent universities in Turkey. In order to examine the structure validity and factor structures of STABS confirmatory factor analysis have been carried out. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the two-factor model fitted the data. The reliability of the scale was examined by test re-test, Cronbach alpha and split-half methods. The Cronbach alpha for the STABS’ total score was .90 and split-half .87. The computed test re-test reliability coefficient for the STABS was .88. Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and Interpersonal Cognitive Distortions Scale (Hamamcı ve Büyüköztürk, 2003) was used for the criterion validity. There was statistically significant positive correlations between STABS and these scales. The Turkish version of STABS demonstrated good psychometric properties, with a high level of internal consistency.