Because experts recommend that all women and girls over aged 13 should be screened for anxiety disorders as part of routine health care, the FNE is one type of screening that you might encounter during a visit to your doctor. Such screenings can be helpful for detecting and treating anxiety early, which is important since anxiety can become worse over time if left untreated.
How the FNE Is Administered
Each item on the FNE is a statement about some aspect of social anxiety. When completing the FNE, you must decide whether each statement is true or false for you personally. If the choice is difficult, you are asked to choose the answer that is slightly more applicable based on how you feel at the moment. You are also asked to answer based on your first reaction and not spend too long on any item. Below are some sample true or false statements from the FNE:
“I rarely worry about seeming foolish to others.““I worry about what people will think of me even when I know it doesn’t make any difference.““I become tense and jittery if I know someone is sizing me up.”
Information Provided by the FNE
A total score on the FNE is obtained based on your answers to the true/false questions. Below are the suggested interpretations. As with any self-report instrument, scores on the FNE need to be interpreted by a mental health professional and followed up with a full diagnostic interview for social anxiety disorder (SAD) when warranted.
Accuracy
Scores on the FNE correlate significantly with measures of anxiety, depression, and general distress in people with social anxiety disorder (SAD). This means that the instrument is used for both clinicians and researchers as a way of screening for SAD and also for tracking the change in social anxiety symptoms over time.
The Brief Version of the FNE
A brief version of the FNE was devised by Leary (1983) to measure the same construct as the full instrument. The brief FNE items are as follows: The brief scale has been shown to have excellent inter-item reliability and two-week test-retest reliability. This means that the items of the scale all measure the same concept and that scores on the test are stable over time.
A Word From Verywell
A scale such as the FNE is only useful as a screening device. If you feel your symptoms are severe and interfering with your daily life, seek advice from your doctor or a mental health professional to see whether you meet the criteria for a diagnosis of SAD and if the treatment might be helpful for your situation. For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
