Analogue observational methods in the assessment of social functioning in adults.

This article provides a clinically oriented overview of analogue observational methods used in the assessment of problematic social functioning, specifically skill deficits and social anxiety. This article emphasizes role-play assessment methods, the predominant method used in clinical settings. An examination of the psychometric characteristics of analogue assessment methods is presented, followed by a review of procedural and structural considerations that may impact the quality of assessment data, Of special concern are the potential impacts of instructional variables, structured versus ideographic role-played situations, confederate characteristics and behavior, molar and molecular levels of assessment, self-ratings versus clinician ratings of functioning, and physical attractiveness. Finally, published and empirically evaluated analogue observation tests are critically reviewed with an emphasis on features that may impact their utility in clinical practice.

[1]  J. M. Kern.  An evaluation of a novel role-play methodology: The standardized idiographic approach , 1991 .

[2]  R. Heimberg,et al.  Dismantling cognitive-behavioral group therapy for social phobia. , 1995, Behaviour research and therapy.

[3]  R. Glasgow,et al.  The behavioral assessment of male and female social competence in dyadic heterosexual interactions. , 1975 .

[4]  R. Heimberg,et al.  Public and private self-consciousness and social phobia. , 1988, Journal of personality assessment.

[5]  R. McFall,et al.  Behavioral training of social skills in shy males. , 1975, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[6]  A. Dickson,et al.  Relationship between contrived in vivo and role-play assertive behavior. , 1981, Journal of clinical psychology.

[7]  J. Dragūns,et al.  Assertion and aggression in adult offenders , 1979 .

[8]  J. Galassi,et al.  Behavioral performance in the validation of an assertiveness scale , 1976 .

[9]  J. M. Kern.  The comparative external and concurrent validity of three role-plays for assessing heterosocial performance , 1982 .

[10]  Walter Mischel,et al.  Social competence and depression : The role of illusory self-perceptions , 1980 .

[11]  P. Monti,et al.  Social skills training : a practical handbook for assessment and treatment , 1982 .

[12]  R. Kessler,et al.  Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. , 1994, Archives of general psychiatry.

[13]  P. Trower.  Situational analysis of the components and processes of behavior of socially skilled and unskilled patients. , 1980, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[14]  R. Heimberg,et al.  Social phobia and social anxiety. , 1993 .

[15]  Michael Argyle,et al.  Social Skills and Mental Health , 1978 .

[16]  T. Merluzzi,et al.  Role-playing procedures for the behavioral assessment of social skill: A validity study. , 1987 .

[17]  J. S. St. Lawrence,et al.  External validity of role play assessment of assertive behavior , 1983 .

[18]  J. Conger,et al.  Ecological validity of role plays for assessing heterosocial anxiety and skill of male college students. , 1979, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[19]  J. S. St. Lawrence,et al.  Predictors of vulnerability to AIDS risk behavior relapse. , 1991, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[20]  D. Hope,et al.  Analysis of social behavior in individuals with social phobia and nonanxious participants using a psychobiological model , 1998 .

[21]  C. Wallace,et al.  Assessment of interpersonal problem-solving skills. , 1990, Psychiatry.

[22]  Global social skill ratings: measures of social behavior or physical attractiveness? , 1994, Behaviour research and therapy.

[23]  M. Hersen,et al.  Relationship of role playing and knowledge of appropriate behavior to assertion in the natural environment. , 1979, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[24]  E. Chiauzzi,et al.  Personalized versus standard role plays in the assessment of depressed patients' social skill , 1985 .

[25]  V. Caballo,et al.  Molar/Molecular Assessment in an Analogue Situation: Relationships among Several Measures and Validation of a Behavioral Assessment Instrument , 1988 .

[26]  F. Andrasik,et al.  Assessing the reliability levels of self-report assertion inventories. , 1981 .

[27]  M. Hersen,et al.  Role-play tests for assessing social skills: are they valid? Are they useful? , 1979, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[28]  P. Bieling,et al.  Interpersonal consequences of the pursuit of safety. , 1998, Behaviour research and therapy.

[29]  E. Blanchard,et al.  Situational determinants of assertive behaviors. , 1975, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[30]  H. Arkowitz,et al.  Social Anxiety and Self-Evaluation of Interpersonal Performance , 1975, Psychological reports.

[31]  L. Torgrud,et al.  Developing externally valid role-play for assessment of social skills: A behavior analytic perspective. , 1992 .

[32]  C. Dancu,et al.  Physiological, cognitive and behavioral aspects of social anxiety. , 1985, Behaviour research and therapy.

[33]  M. T. Nietzel,et al.  Effects of instructionally mediated demand on the behavioral assessment of assertiveness. , 1976, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[34]  R. Liberman,et al.  Assessment of social skills. , 1982, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[35]  A. Bellack.  Recurrent problems in the behavioral assessment of social skill , 1983 .

[36]  J. Conger,et al.  Behavioral components of heterosocial skills , 1981 .

[37]  J. Romano,et al.  Social validation of a component model of assertive behavior. , 1980, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[38]  M. Hersen,et al.  Components of assertive behavior. , 1973, Journal of clinical psychology.

[39]  Dc Washington.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. , 1994 .

[40]  S. Spence,et al.  Effectiveness of booster sessions in the maintenance and enhancement of treatment gains following assertion training. , 1990, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[41]  P. Yarnold,et al.  Dating-Skills Groups for the Developmentally Disabled , 1987, Behavior modification.

[42]  S. Hofmann,et al.  Does behavioral treatment of social phobia lead to cognitive changes , 1994 .

[43]  S. Hofmann,et al.  From Social Anxiety to Social Phobia: Multiple Perspectives , 2000 .

[44]  A. Quittner,et al.  Assertiveness training for disabled adults in wheelchairs: self-report, role-play, and activity pattern outcomes. , 1992, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[45]  Michel Hersen,et al.  Behavioral Assessment: A Practical Handbook , 1998 .

[46]  James D. Calvert.  Physical attractiveness: A review and reevaluation of its role in social skill research. , 1988 .

[47]  David H. Barlow,et al.  Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders: A Step-by-Step Treatment Manual , 2001 .

[48]  D. Chambless,et al.  Adherence during sessions and homework in cognitive-behavioral group treatment of social phobia. , 1995, Behaviour research and therapy.

[49]  C. R. Glass,et al.  Self-focused attention in the treatment of social phobia. , 1997, Behaviour research and therapy.

[50]  R. McFall.  A review and reformulation of the concept of social skills. , 1982 .

[51]  R O Nelson,et al.  A comparison of data produced by different behavioral assessment techniques with implications for models of social-skills inadequacy. , 1985, Behaviour research and therapy.