A Study to assess the level of social anxiety among adolescents in a selected college in Mangaluru

Abstract

Anxiety is considered excessive or pathological when it arises in the absence of challenge or stress, when it is out of proportion to the challenge or stress in duration or severity, when it results in significant distress, and when it results in psychological, social, occupational, biological, and other impairment. Social anxiety if untreated, significantly interfere with a person's daily routines and social life. A quantitative, descriptive study design was adopted for the study. The sample comprised of 60 adolescents, selected using non-probability convenient sampling technique. The data was collected by using Liebowitz social anxiety scale (LSAS). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data revealed that 48.33% had mild social anxiety, 10% had moderate social anxiety, 5% had marked social anxiety, 6.67% had severe social anxiety and 3.33% had very severe social anxiety. Social anxiety level of 26.67% of the adolescents was in normal limits. The chi-square test was used to find the association between level of social anxiety and socio demographic variable. Results indicated that monthly family income (χ2=7.82) had significant association with the level of social anxiety score at 0.05 level. Study concluded that social anxiety is a distressing problem for a considerable proportion of the general population, which may have impact on the various areas of individuals functioning.