Measurement invariance of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report.

OBJECTIVE: The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self Report (LSAS-SR) is a self-report measure of social anxiety (SA), which has shown adequate psychometric properties across cultures. However, no study has systematically evaluated its measurement invariance (MI) between (a) individuals with and without a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and (b) males and females. The current study addresses this issue. METHODS: We collected data on 257 (158 females) Italian individuals diagnosed with SAD and 356 (232 females) community-dwelling adults. RESULTS: We initially found support for the unidimensionality of the Italian LSAS-SR measurement model in all samples. Using the Graded Response Model, we obtained evidence of partial MI and differential item functioning between community-dwelling and SAD-diagnosed individuals and evidence of strong MI between male and female participants. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the Italian LSAS-SR measures the same trait in the same way across the symptom continuum and sexes, making it a psychometrically sound tool for assessment, screening, and research purposes.

What messages can foster safer sex among young women? Experimental evidence concerning the role of emotions and moral norms.

Through a 2 × 2 × 2 quasi experimental design (N = 254), this research investigated if a social campaign eliciting positive emotions and activating moral norms might enhance condom negotiation skills, intended and estimated condom among young women with or without past sexual experience with casual partners. Emotions had a main effect on one of the six condom negotiation strategies we considered; for most of the other variables an interaction effect with moral norms and/or past behaviour emerged. Concerning estimated condom use, positive emotions worked better than negative ones when moral norms were salient. With respect to negotiations skills, positive rather than negative emotions seemed more effective for women with past causal sexual experience. In women without this kind of experience, positive emotions seemed to work better when moral norms were salient. Moral norms had a main effect on negotiation self-efficacy, but not in the predicted direction: when moral norms were more salient women were found to be less confident about their negotiation ability. These results suggest that a message which makes moral norms salient should at the same time elicit positive emotions in order to be effective; moreover, messages should be carefully tailored according to women's past behaviour.

Beyond Sociocultural Influence: Self-monitoring and Self-awareness as Predictors of Women's Interest in Breast Cosmetic Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present research was to analyze the role of self-awareness, self-monitoring, perceived media pressures, and peer attributions on the consideration of breast cosmetic surgery among women. The internalization of thin ideals was taken into account as a key moderating variable. METHODS: Participants were 132 Italian women (mean age = 33.62), who completed a questionnaire aimed at measuring the variables of interest. Path analysis was used to test our hypotheses. RESULTS: The results indicated that perceived media pressure, self-monitoring, and peer attributions influenced participants' interest in breast modification procedures through the internalization of thin ideals. Self-awareness (both private and public) had a direct effect on women's consideration of breast cosmetic surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This research is one of few analyzing how specific aspects of the self could influence women's interest in cosmetic surgery. These findings contribute to the understanding of the reasons that trigger women's interest in cosmetic surgery. Not only sociocultural influences contribute to the development of favorable attitudes toward cosmetic surgery, but also specific aspects of the self have a relevant role. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the table of contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .