Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale

The LSAS is a 24-item rating scale assessing Fear and Avoidance across 13 performance and 11 social interaction situations. Total score 0–144. Primary endpoint in social anxiety disorder pharmacotherapy trials. Liebowitz (1987).

What is the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale?

The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) is a clinician-administered rating scale developed by Michael Liebowitz in 1987 to detailedly assess the range of social situations that may be feared or avoided by individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia. It was developed specifically to capture the broad spectrum of social situations relevant to SAD, from performance situations (public speaking, eating in public) to social interaction situations (parties, meeting strangers, maintaining eye contact).

The LSAS consists of 24 social situations, each rated on two independent dimensions: Fear/Anxiety (0=none to 3=severe) and Avoidance (0=never to 3=usually). This produces 4 subscale scores plus a total score (0–144). The LSAS-SR (self-report version) has been shown to have equivalent psychometric properties to the clinician version and is commonly used in research settings.

The LSAS is the primary or co-primary endpoint in most social anxiety disorder pharmacotherapy trials, including those supporting FDA approval of SSRIs and SNRIs for SAD. Treatment response is typically defined as ≥30% reduction in total LSAS from baseline. Remission is often defined as LSAS total ≤30.

LSAS Score Interpreter

Enter your LSAS total score (0–144) to interpret social anxiety severity.

Sum of all Fear (0–72) and Avoidance (0–72) ratings across 24 situations. Total range: 0–144.

LSAS © Liebowitz (1987). Widely available for clinical and research use. This interpreter does not replace clinician-administered assessment.

LSAS Total Score Reference

Liebowitz (1987); Heimberg et al. (1999). Clinical trial response criterion typically ≥30% reduction; remission often defined as LSAS ≤30. Generalized SAD is commonly associated with LSAS ≥60.

Total Score (0–144)

Four Subscales

LSAS Situation Categories

The 24 LSAS situations span two broad domains. Each is rated independently for Fear and Avoidance.

Performance Situations (13)

Social Interaction Situations (11)

Social Anxiety Assessment Tools

Social Anxiety Outcome Tracking in HiBoop

LSAS alongside GAD-7, PHQ-9, and PCL-5, integrated anxiety disorder outcome monitoring for outpatient, IOP, and residential programs.