Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Psychol Assess. 2015 Mar 16;27(3):997–1012. doi: 10.1037/a0038828

Appendix.

Social Anxiety Questionnaire for adults (SAQ)* (Caballo, Salazar, Arias, and Irurtia, 2010)

Level of unease, stress or nervousness
Not at all or very slight Slight Moderate High very high or extremely high
1 2 3 4 5
Please rate all the items and do so honestly; do not worry about your answer because there are no right or wrong ones. Thank you very much for your collaboration.
1. Greeting someone and being ignored 1 2 3 4 5
2. Having to ask a neighbor to stop making noise 1 2 3 4 5
3. Speaking in public 1 2 3 4 5
4. Asking someone attractive of the opposite sex for a date 1 2 3 4 5
5. Complaining to the waiter about my food 1 2 3 4 5
6. Feeling watched by people of the opposite sex 1 2 3 4 5
7. Participating in a meeting with people in authority 1 2 3 4 5
8. Talking to someone who isn't paying attention to what I am saying 1 2 3 4 5
9. Refusing when asked to do something I don't like doing 1 2 3 4 5
10. Making new friends 1 2 3 4 5
11. Telling someone that they have hurt my feelings 1 2 3 4 5
12. Having to speak in class, at work, or in a meeting 1 2 3 4 5
13. Maintaining a conversation with someone I've just met 1 2 3 4 5
14. Expressing my annoyance to someone that is picking on me 1 2 3 4 5
15. Greeting each person at a social meeting when I don't know most of them 1 2 3 4 5
16. Being teased in public 1 2 3 4 5
17. Talking to people I don't know at a party or a meeting 1 2 3 4 5
18. Being asked a question in class by the teacher or by a superior in a meeting 1 2 3 4 5
19. Looking into the eyes of someone I have just met while we are talking 1 2 3 4 5
20. Being asked out by a person I am attracted to 1 2 3 4 5
21. Making a mistake in front of other people 1 2 3 4 5
22. Attending a social event where I know only one person 1 2 3 4 5
23. Starting a conversation with someone of the opposite sex that I like 1 2 3 4 5
24. Being reprimanded about something I have done wrong 1 2 3 4 5
25. While having dinner with colleagues, classmates or workmates, being asked to speak on behalf of the entire group 1 2 3 4 5
26. Telling someone that their behavior bothers me and asking them to stop 1 2 3 4 5
27. Asking someone I find attractive to dance 1 2 3 4 5
28. Being criticized 1 2 3 4 5
29. Talking to a superior or a person in authority 1 2 3 4 5
30. Telling someone I am attracted to that I would like to get to know them better 1 2 3 4 5
*

Reproduced with permission from “Validation of the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) with Spanish university students: Similarities and differences among degree subjects and regions” by Caballo, Salazar, Arias, et al., 2010, Behavioral Psychology/Psicologia Conductual, 18, pp. 33-34. Copyright 2010 by Fundacion VECA.

Note: The SAQ was known formerly (and published elsewhere) as SAQ-A30. People whose sexual preferences are for the same sex can change the term “opposite sex” for “same sex”

Scoring instructions for the SAQ and its dimensions:

Dimension 1: Interactions with strangers (sum of the items 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, & 22)

Dimension 2: Speaking in public/Talking with people in authority (sum of the items 3, 7, 12, 18, 25, & 29)

Dimension 3: Interactions with the opposite sex (sum of the items 4, 6, 20, 23, 27, & 30)

Dimension 4: Criticism and embarrassment (sum of the items 1, 8, 16, 21, 24, & 28)

Dimension 5: Assertive expression of annoyance, disgust or displeasure (sum of the items 2, 5, 9, 11, 14, & 26)

Total score: Sum of all items of the questionnaire

Cut scores for every dimension and the whole questionnaire are included in table 10.