Social Phobia Among School Students With A View to Develop an Information Education And Communication

DOI: 10.5176/2315-4330_WNC18.216

Authors: Agnes Monica. V

Abstract:

Social phobia is characterized by a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and feeling embarrassed or humiliated by their actions. This fear may be so severe that it interferes with work, school, and other activities and may negatively affect the person’s ability to form relationships. Childhood social phobia (SP) is common and associated with varying forms of impairment. People with social phobia tend to feel self-conscious and uncomfortable about being noticed or judged by others. The person starts to focus on the embarrassing things that could happen, instead of the good things. This makes a situation seem much worse than it is, and influences a person to avoid it. Objective To assess the level of social phobia and to compare the level of social phobia among girl students in selected urban and rural higher secondary schools. Methods 60 students from two schools were screened using Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and those screening positive were interviewed for diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder. Information was obtained on socio demographic variables and academic and social impairment. The research design selected for the study was non-experimental, descriptive research design with Simple random technique. Results No association of Social phobia with type of family, number of siblings, birth order was found. Significant association between SPS and poor academic performance and limitation in involvement in extracurricular activities and peer relationship was found. Conclusion The overall findings of the study clearly showed that most of the rural adolescents are having mild and moderate social phobia whereas urban adolescents have no phobia. SAD is prevalent among adolescents in India and is associated with impairment in both in academic and non-academic areas. Hence, identification of SAD and timely referral of students for effective treatment is important for school health care personnel.

Keywords: Phobia, Adolescents, Assess, Higher secondary school, Information education and communication.