Social phobia and its impact in Indian university students (original) (raw)
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National journal of community medicine, 2016
Social phobia has been classified according to DSM-IV and ICD-10 classification as phobic (anxiety) disorder and is also known as social anxiety disorder1. Social phobia seldom starts in adolescence2, though neglected in the past, has now gained increased focus as a impairing and treatable condition1. Social phobia affects both sexes equally and usually results in avoidance of social situations. The condition can be discrete or diffuse, involving virtually all social situations outside the family circle and typically associated with low self esteem and fear of criticism2.
Turkish Journal of Psychiatry, 2011
The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of social phobia, and the sociodemographic variables, substance use patterns, and comorbid psychiatric disorders associated with it. The impact of social phobia on quality of life, academic achievement, and identity formation were also examined. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted between 01 March and 01 June 2008, and included 700 undergraduate students at Adnan Menderes University. A sociodemographic data form, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Form, Turkish Version (WHOQoL-BREF-TR), and Instrument for Assessing Identity Confusion (IFAIC) were administered to the participants. Findings: In all, 20.9% of the participants had social phobia during the previous year and 21.7% had social phobia for a lifetime. In total, 74.6% of those that had social phobia during the previous year and 76.5% of those that had social phobia for their whole lives also had a specific social phobia. There was a significant difference between the participants with generalized social phobia or a specific social phobia, and those without social phobia, in terms of LSAS and IFAIC scores. Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of social phobia was 1.7-fold higher among the females than males, 1.5-fold higher among those that lived in cities for the last 15 years than those that lived in towns, 1.9-fold higher among those that lived in cities for the last 15 years than those that lived in villages, and 1.8-fold higher among those that had relatives with a psychiatric illness than those that didn't. Higher socioeconomic status was negatively correlated with the prevalence of social phobia. Cigarette smoking was more prevalent among the students without social phobia and suicidal ideation was more prevalent among the students with social phobia. WHOQOL-BREF-TR scores showed that students without social phobia had significantly higher quality of life quality than those with social phobia. Selfreported academic performance did not significantly differ between the students with social phobia and those without social phobia. Conclusion: Social phobia research may be limited, but was highly prevalent among the university students in the present study and had significant negative effects on identity formation and quality of life.
Screening of social phobia symptoms in a sample of Egyptian university students
Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo), 2019
Background: Public speaking is a main requisite for academic achievement amongst university students. Epidemiological data on social phobia among University students in the Arab World are scarce. Objectives: To screen for social phobia symptoms in a representative sample of Egyptian university students, and to highlight some putative risk factors associated with them. Methods: Two thousand nine hundred and nineteen Egyptian university students participated in the study. They were screened for social phobia using Brief Social Phobia Scale (BSPS). Students total and subdomain scores on the BSPS were correlated with their demographic and scholastic variables. Results: Social phobia symptoms were estimated to be prevalent among (44%) of the study sample. A significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation was found between students' age and avoidance scores on BSPS and between students' educational year and their scores on fear, avoidance and physiologic subdomains on the BSPS. Regression analysis pointed out to a number of predictive factors for the higher total BSPS scores such as female gender and being a medical student. Discussion: Our study demonstrated a high rate of social phobia symptoms in university students. It also demonstrated a number of significant predictive factors associated with the domains of social phobia such as gender, BMI, scholastic year and faculty type.
International journal of adolescent medicine and health, 2018
Background: The World Health Organisation has reported that mental disorders are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Social phobia is one such mental disorder that can have significant impact on the livelihood of adults if not detected at an early stage. There have been very few studies done on social phobia among adolescents in South India. Hence, this study was done to determine the prevalence of social phobia and factors associated with it among the school-going adolescents in rural Puducherry. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1018 school going adolescents from December 2017 to January 2018 in rural Puducherry. Information on socio-demographic characteristics was collected by a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and social phobia was assessed using the validated Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) questionnaire. Results: Among 1018 participants, 738 (72.5%) belonged to early adolescence (10-13 years); 520 (51.1%) were boys; 557 (54.7%) were studying in a middle class; 931 (91.5%) were Hindus; 978 (96.1%) had siblings. The prevalence of social phobia among adolescents was found to be 22.9% (95% CI: 20.4-25.5%). The prevalence of mild social phobia was 18% [95% confidence interval (CI): 15.7-20.4%], moderate social phobia was 4% (95% CI: 2.9-5.4%), severe social phobia was 0.7% (95% CI: 0.3-1.3%) and very severe social phobia was 0.2% (95% CI: 0.03-0.64%). Higher age, female gender, lack of counselling services and specialist visits at school were found to be determinants of social phobia. Conclusion: The current study showed that one in every five adolescents was at risk of developing social phobia. Health education for students, teachers and family members needs to be given to make them aware of the importance of social phobia.
Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics
Point your SmartPhone at the code above. If you have a QR code reader the video abstract will appear. Or use: https://youtu.be/ggViE65C2Fo Background: Social anxiety disorder is a serious and disabling mental health problem that begins before or during adolescence, with the potential to significantly interfere with an individual's daily functioning and overall quality of life. Objective: The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence, severity, and quality of life towards social anxiety disorder among students of Mettu University, Ethiopia. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a stratified sample of 523 undergraduate students to identify the prevalence, correlates of social anxiety disorder, and impacts on quality life. All participants completed the Social Phobia Inventory, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, and World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Form, Turkish Version (WHOQOL-BREF-TR). Of 523 students, 26% were screened positive for social anxiety disorder. About 69.4% and 17.4% of the students had mild and moderate symptoms of social anxiety disorder, respectively. WHOQOL BREF-TR scores showed that students with social phobia had significantly lower quality of life quality than those without social phobia. Being criticized by others or fear of parties was the most commonly feared situations. Talking to strangers was the most commonly avoided situations. Being females, current tobacco use, and family history of psychiatric illness were factors significantly associated with social phobia symptoms using logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: The current study shows high prevalence of social phobia among the university students and its significant negative effects on quality of life which require prompt identification and treatment.
Journal of Affective Disorders, 2012
Background: Despite the fact that public speaking is a common academic activity and that social phobia has been associated with lower educational achievement and impaired academic performance, little research has examined the prevalence of social phobia in college students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of social phobia in a large sample of Brazilian college students and to examine the academic impact of this disorder. Methods: The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) and the MINI-SPIN, used as the indicator of social phobia in the screening phase, were applied to 2319 randomly selected students from two Brazilian universities. For the second phase (diagnostic confirmation), four psychiatrists and one clinical psychologist administered the SCID-IV to subjects with MINI-SPIN scores of 6 or higher. Results: The prevalence of social phobia among the university students was 11.6%. Women with social phobia had significantly lower grades than those without the disorder. Fear of public speaking was the most common social fear. Only two of the 237 students with social phobia (0.8%) had previously received a diagnosis of social phobia and were under treatment. Limitations: Social phobia comorbidities were not evaluated in this study. The methods of assessment employed by the universities (written exams) may mask the presence of social phobia. This was not a population-based study, and thus the results are not generalizable to the entire population with social phobia. Conclusion: Preventive strategies are recommended to reduce the under-recognition and the adverse impact of social phobia on academic performance and overall quality of life of university students.
Prevalence of Social Anxiety in Students of College of Education – University of Garmian
Researchers World : Journal of Arts, Science and Commerce, 2017
General anxiety disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorder, especially in college students, because it usually develops in early adolescence or young adulthood. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of social anxiety disorder and its associated factors in students of educational science for academic year 2016-2017. This study was a cross-sectional and descriptive study. One hundred and ninety eight (107 females and 91 males) students in college of educatin , University of Garmian were randomly selected. A questionnaire in two parts (demographic and Social Phobia Inventory) was used to collect data. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistics in SPSS-22. The percentage of participation in the study was 79.2%. Mean and standard deviation of students' age were 20.53 year and 1.86. The majority of the students were female (54%). Findings showed that prevalence of social anxiety disorder was more than 80%. Intensity of social phobia was mild in 20.2%, moderate in 41.9%, and severe in 28.3% of participants. Gender was associated with social anxiety disorder (p<0.05); and social anxiety was more prevalent in freshmen and sophomores (p<0.05). It can be concluded from this research that social anxiety is a prevalent disorder in students of college of Education. It is more prevalent in females, freshmen, and sophomores. According to the findings of the research, these students need more protection.
Social Phobia and Academic Achievement of Girls At Postgraduate Level
Social phobia is one of the most chronic, widely prevalent, and unwanted but less noticed psychological disorder. The present study was aimed to find out the social phobia and academic achievements of girls at postgraduate level. Students were selected from College of Home Economics, Lahore through random sampling. " Social Phobia Inventory Scale " was used to investigate the presence of social phobia and 128 students identified with social phobia were taken as sample. Mean of the results of past two years of phobic students were used to assess their academic achievements. Data was analyzed through t-test, Coefficient of correlation and Regression analysis. The results indicated that social phobia was highly prevalent among the girls but it had no significant effect on the academic achievements of students. The results also showed that the demographic factors of students had no significant effect either on the social phobia or the academic achievements. It is recommended that further studies on this topic should be conducted on a larger scale and the qualitative analysis should be carried out to get an in depth viewpoint of adolescents about social phobia.