Abstract

Cognitive variables have been known to be particularly important in social phobia. However, there has not yet been developed any instrument to define systematically and measure objectively dysfunctional beliefs regarded as one type of main cognitive contents of social phobia. Based on the systematic definitions of dysfunctional beliefs of social phobia, a pool of 220 preliminary items were sampled, and 199 items were initially selected through the examination of content validity. And then the Dysfunctional Beliefs Test(DBT) with 70 items was constructed using a series of factor analyses on the data of 199 items, and was examined its reliability and validity in two separate studies. The DBT was highly reliable in terms of internal consistency, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability. Factor analyses revealed that it had three factors labeled 'Negative Concept of Social Self', 'Excessive Demand for Others' Approval', and 'Negative Belief of Others and Excessive Concern over Mistakes'. And the DBT was significantly correlated with maladaptive automatic thoughts, emotional and behavioral symptoms, and trait anxiety related to social phobia as well as a vulnerability to fear of negative evaluation, but not with social stressor. In conclusion, the DBT appears to be a highly reliable, valid measure to assess dysfuntional beliefs of social phobia. Lastly, both the implications of the present studies and the utilization of the DBT in the cognitive study and treatment of social phobia were discussed.