Social anxiety in schools often manifests as a fear of embarrassment or failure in social or performance situations. This fear typically stems from a desire to leave a positive impression, combined with feelings of unablity to achieve this (Schlenker & Leary, 1982). These doubts frequently arise because individuals with higher levels of social anxiety tend to overestimate both the likelihood and consequences of negative social events (Rheingold et al., 2003). Common situations that trigger heightened social anxiety include initiating conversations, answering or asking questions in class, attending social events or any kind of performance in front of others.

The primary aim of this study was to adapt, validate and revise the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Children (SAQ-C) (Caballo et al., 2012) on a sample of 740 8th- and 9th-grade students from 13 randomly selected schools in Moravia, Czech Republic. The secondary aim was to examine the statistical relationship between school-related social anxiety and students' academic performance (measured by their grades in Czech, mathematics, and English), gender, and academic self-concept.

To measure the social anxiety of students, we used 6-factor Social Anxiety Scale for Children (SAQ-C), originally developed in Spain, which targets non-clinical and non-English population (9-15 of age). For the purpose of the study, we decided to extract two factors that are specifically relevant for the school context – Speaking with teacher and Criticism and Embarrassment. These factors alone explain majority of the variance of the overall scale. After verifying the content validity of the questionnaire, the validation of the two-factor scale proceeded in three steps. The sample was first divided into two random halves. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the first half of the sample (n = 370) using the minimum residual method and oblimin rotation. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the second half of the sample to validate the revised two-factor model. Subsequently, we conducted the measurement invariance to inspect whether the revised scale is equally applicable for both men and women population of the students.

The study confirmed the reliability and validity of the revised version of the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Children (SAQ-C). The results of EFA factor analyses demonstrated that the two-factor model, focused on interaction with teachers and criticism and embarrassment, is statistically robust—items showed high factor loadings with their original factors. The only exception was item 7 ("Feeling scared or nervous about stuttering, stumbling, or having a trembling voice"), which was reassigned to the first factor. CFI demonstrated excellent model fit (CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99). Measurement invariance was subsequently tested, with the sample split by gender into male and female respondents. The CFA further confirmed that the revised scale is functional and achieves high fit indices for both male respondents (CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99) and female respondents (CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.96). Multiple linear regression revealed that gender is a highly significant predictor of social anxiety, with females exhibiting significantly higher levels of social anxiety. This finding is consistent with numerous studies reporting similar results (Asher & Aderka, 2018; Dell’Osso et al.). Regression analysis also identified academic self-concept as an important predictor of social anxiety. Somewhat comparable findings have been reported in studies with different focuses—for example, Gaudiano and Herbert (2006) and Nicastro et al. (1999) demonstrated a relationship between self-efficacy and symptoms of social anxiety in various samples. The regression results also point to the convergent validity of the adapted scale.

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