Overview
Adapted from the adult Social Cognitions Questionnaire the CASCQ is rated on two dimensions: how frequently the thought occurs in social situations, and how strongly the thought is believed. These thoughts about oneself are believed to be important in the maintenance of social anxiety disorder (SAD) - feeling anxiety in social and performance situations, even in the absence of negative feedback.Scoring & Interpretation
Respondents are asked to rate how frequently they experienc ethe thought when they are socially anxious, from 1(never) to 5 (every time), and how much they believe the thought when it occurs, from 0 (not at all) to 100 (totally). Two scores are generated: a mean frequency score and mean belief score.Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency
Internal consistency for the total scores and subscales was good for all frequency and belief scales, ranging from .90 to .98.
Test-Retest Reliability
Factor Structure
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for belief ratings found the two-factor solution explained 65% of the variance, with the first factor explaining 39% and the second explaining 26% (correlation r = 0.76). EFA for frequency ratings found the two-factor solution explained 56% of the variance, with the first factor explaining 35% and the second explaining 21% (correlation r = .76). Confirmatory factor analysis for belief ratings revealed an overall acceptable model fit (SRMR = 0.05), CFI =.90) and TLI =.90) RMSEA was slightly above the recommended threshold (RMSEA = 0.09). The fit of the model for the Frequency ratings was better, with all indices in the acceptable range (SRMR = 0.05, RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = .99, and TLI = .99).
Validity
Each subscale and the totals for both frequency and belief ratings were significantly and positively correlated with the The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents-Self Report Version Total Score (rs > 0.45).