Testing the Short and Screener versions of the Social Adjustment Scale-Self-report (SAS-SR)

The 54-item Social Adjustment Scale-Self-report (SAS-SR) is a measure of social functioning used in research studies and clinical practice. Two shortened versions were recently developed: the 24-item SAS-SR: Short and the 14-item SAS-SR: Screener. We briefly describe the development of the shortened scales and then assess their reliability and validity in comparison to the full SAS-SR in new analyses from two separate samples of convenience from a family study and from a primary care clinic. Compared to the full SAS-SR, the shortened scales performed well, exhibiting high correlations with full SAS-SR scores (r values between 0.81 and 0.95); significant correlations with health-related quality of life as measured by the Short Form 36 Health Survey; the ability to distinguish subjects with major depression versus other psychiatric disorders versus no mental disorders; and sensitivity to change in clinical status as measured longitudinally with the Symptom Checklist-90 and Global Assessment Scale. The SAS-SR: Short and SAS-SR: Screener retained the areas assessed by the full SAS-SR with fewer items in each area, and appear to be promising replacements for the full scale when a shorter administration time is desired and detailed information on performance in different areas is not required. Further work is needed to test the validity of the shortened measures.