Background
Efficient screening for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) requires valid and up-to-date instruments. The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) is a widely used and internationally validated measure. The German version has been validated in clinical and community samples, with a cut-off score of 25 established in 2008. However, changes in social interactions and communication patterns may influence responses to items, particularly in student populations. Moreover, the original German validation relied on DSM-IV criteria, and its validity under DSM-5 has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Given the increasing demand for brief screening tools, the Mini-SPIN offers a time-efficient alternative; however, its diagnostic accuracy in student populations has not been systematically examined.
Method
In this preliminary study, 65 non-treatment-seeking German psychology students completed the SPIN, Mini-SPIN, and a structured clinical interview for SAD based on DSM-5 criteria. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were conducted to assess discriminative accuracy and determine optimal cut-off scores.
Results
The SPIN showed moderate discriminative accuracy in distinguishing students with and without SAD using the established cut-off score of 25, yielding a sensitivity of 80%, a specificity of 69%, and an area under the curve of 0.71. The Mini-SPIN showed lower discriminative accuracy in this sample, suggesting that the full SPIN may be the more suitable screening instrument for comparable populations. Exploratory analyses suggested different optimal cut-off scores for female and male participants, warranting replication in larger samples.
Conclusion
The findings provide preliminary support for the continued applicability of the SPIN as a screening tool in contemporary student populations. Incorporating brief assessments of distress and functional impairment may further improve screening accuracy. Further research should examine sex-specific cut-off scores in larger and more diverse samples.