Prevalence of Social Anxiety Disorder and Impact on School Performance among Secondary School Students in Makkah City

Abstract

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a predominant disorder in Saudi Arabia, particularly within the vulnerable groups as adolescence. However, there is no existing data on social anxiety disorder in Makkah secondary male schools. Objectives: to assess the prevalence of social anxiety disorders and determine its impact on their academic and school performance. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Makkah city, including a representative random sample of male secondary schools enrolled in private and governmental schools throughout the academic year 2019-2020. Data were collected using a self–administered questionnaire. It included socio-demographic characteristics of the students as well as the Arabic version of Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) to assess SAD among them. In addition to questions regarding their school performance. Results: The study included 190 students. Regarding age, about one-third of them (34.7%) was 17 years whereas that of 30.5% was 18 years or above. More than half of the participants (56.3%) were recruited from governmental schools. The prevalence of social phobia was 17.9%; it was mild among 11.6% of them and severe among only 2.1%. Students of lower educated mothers were more likely to have severe forms of the disorder, p=0.030. There was no difference between students of private and governmental schools regarding prevalence and severity of social phobia. Social anxiety disorder had no impact of school performance of the affected students.Conclusion: The prevalence of social anxiety disorder among secondary school students in Makkah is within the range of other Saudi studies. However, it is higher than those reported in Western countries and affects a considerable proportion of students