The Dating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents: scale development and associations with adolescent functioning

Given the importance of romantic and dating relationships during adolescence, the purpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Dating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (DAS-A). Participants were 757 high school students (56% girls, ages 15 to 18 years). Adolescents completed the DAS-A, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A), a Dating Questionnaire, and the Revised Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Factor analysis of the DAS-A yielded a 3-factor solution with acceptable internal consistencies: fear of negative evaluation in dating situations (FNE-Dating); social distress when interacting with real or potential dating partners (SD-Date); and social distress when in a group of mixed-sex peers (SD-Group). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the 3-factor solution. Results indicated that younger adolescents reported more dating anxiety than older adolescents, and boys reported more SD-Group than girls. Dating anxiety was associated with peer-related anxiety and depressive symptoms and was a significant predictor of adolescents' current and usual dating status, even when controlling for adolescents' peer-related social anxiety. The findings provide support for the reliability and validity of the DAS-A. Clinical and research implications are discussed.