The Dating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents: Scale Development and Associations With Adolescent Functioning

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Mack Lee

Study develops and evaluates the psychometric properties of the Dating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (DAS-A) in 757 high school students aged 15–18. Factor and confirmatory factor analyses support a three-factor structure: fear of negative evaluation in dating (FNE-Dating), social distress with dating partners (SD-Date), and social distress with mixed-sex peer groups (SD-Group). Younger adolescents report more dating anxiety, while boys report more SD-Group. Dating anxiety relates to peer-related anxiety and depressive symptoms and predicts adolescents’ current and usual dating status beyond peer-related social anxiety, supporting DAS-A reliability and validity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Overview and Purpose

Participants and Measures

Scale Structure and Validation

Factor Analysis Results

Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Findings and Implications

Age and Gender Differences

Predictive Associations

Department of Psychology,University of Miami Given the importance of romantic and dating relationships during adolescence,thepurpose of the study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of theDating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents(DAS-A).Participants were 757 high schoolstudents(56%girls,ages 15 to 18 years).Adolescents completed the DAS-A,the So-cial Anxiety Scale for Adolescents(SAS-A),a Dating Questionnaire,and the RevisedBeck Depression Inventory-II(BDI-II).Factor analysis of the DAS-A yielded a3-factor solution with acceptable internal consistencies:fear of negative evaluationin dating situations(FNE-Dating);social distress when interacting with real or po-tential dating partners (SD-Date);and social distress when in a group of mixed-sexpeers(SD-Group).Confirmatoryfactor analysis confirmed the 3-factor solution.Re-sults indicated that younger adolescents reported more dating anxiety than older ado-lescents,and boys reported more SD-Group than girls.Dating anxiety was associ-ated with peer-related anxiety and depressive symptoms and was a significantpredictor of adolescents'current and usual dating status,even when controlling foradolescents'peer-related social anxiety.The findings provide support for the reliabil-ity and validity of the DAS-A.Clinical and research implications are discussed. In recent years,clinical and developmental re-searchers have begun to examine multiple aspects ofadolescents'dating relationships.This accumulatingbody of work has dispelled the notion that adolescentdating relationships are trivial,transitory,and lackingin importance(Collins,2003).Based on data from theNational Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health(Carver,Joyner,&Udry,2003),25%of 12-year-oldsreport having had a special romantic relationship,and,by age 16,the majority of adolescents report such rela-tionships.In addition,among adolescents who weredating,a large proportion report that their relationshipslasted 11 months or more(e.g.,20%of those 14 yearsor younger,35%of the 15-to 16-year-olds,and 60%ofthe 17-to 18-year-olds).Other recent work by Feiring(1996)revealed that 88%of the 15-year-olds inter-viewed reported having dated,even though only 21%were currently dating at the time of the interview. Adding to this literature is evidence that dating rela-tionships have significant implications for adolescents'psychosocial functioning(Collins,2003).Having a ro-mantic relationship,and the quality of the relationship,have been linked with positive self-concept during ad-olescence(Connolly &Konarski,1994).Dating re-lationships also contribute to adolescents'status andbelonging in their peer crowd(Connolly,Craig,Gold- # The Dating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents:Scale Developmentand Associations With Adolescent Functioning Alissa R.Glickman and Annette M.La Greca berg,&Pepler,1999;Levesque,1993)and help to es-tablish interpersonal skills of sharing,negotiation,dis-closure,and intimacy(Feiring,1996;Furman &Shaf-fer,2003).At the same time,the transition to datingcan be distressing to adolescents(Zimmer-Gembeck,2002).In addition,dating in early adolescence is asso-ciated with negative adjustment indicators,such as de-pression (Davila,Steinberg,Kachadourian,Cobb,&Fincham,in press),poor achievement(Brendgen,Vitaro,Doyle,Markiewicz,&Bukowski,2002),andproblem behaviors(Neemann,Hubbard,&Masten,1995).In view of these and other findings(Collins,2003;Zimmer-Gembeck,2002),dating relationshipsrepresents a relatively new,yet important avenue of re-search for understanding adolescent adjustment. Within this broader context,the primary goal of thisstudy was to examine adolescents'experiences of anxi-ety in dating and heterosocial(mixed-gender)situa-tions.At least among older adolescents(15 to 18 yearsof age),when dating and heterosocial interactions arenormative(Carver et al.,2003;Davies &Windle,2000;Kuttler,La Greca,&Prinstein,1999),feelings ofanxiety and distress in dating situations,or in the pres-ence of potential dating partne

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Dating Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (DAS-A) and test its associations with adolescents’ functioning.

What factors make up the DAS-A?

The DAS-A yields a three-factor solution: fear of negative evaluation in dating situations (FNE-Dating), social distress with dating partners (SD-Date), and social distress in mixed-sex peer groups (SD-Group).

How is dating anxiety related to other adolescent outcomes?

Dating anxiety is associated with peer-related anxiety and depressive symptoms, and it significantly predicts adolescents’ current and usual dating status even after controlling for peer-related social anxiety.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Mack Lee

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