Safety behaviours and social anxiety disorder

Two studies examine the validity of a modified version of the Social Behaviour Questionnaire (SBQ; Clark, et al. 1995), an unpublished measure of safety behaviours used by people with social anxiety. Study 1 investigated the underlying structure and psychometric properties of the SBQ in a sample of 269 undergraduate students. Results indicate the SBQ subdivides into two categories of safety behaviours: avoidance and self-monitoring. Study 2 replicated these results in a sample of 62 socially anxious individuals from the community. Differential effects of these categories of behaviours on the interpersonal relationship were examined in the community sample using a controlled laboratory social interaction task. Standard multiple regression procedures indicate that avoidant behaviours are negatively associated with likability of participants, whereas self-monitoring behaviours were not significantly associated with likability.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat