The Psychological Effects of Social Phobia on Undergraduate Students in the south of Jordan

Main Article Content

Faris Alsaraireh
Heba Althnaibat
Hammam Leimoon
Yazan Al-Mrayat
Rasha Al Dalaeen

Keywords

Psychological Effects, Social Phobia, Undergraduate Students, Liebowitz Scale

Abstract

The problem of social phobia is a health and psychological problem, which should be focused on during meetings, events, scientific participation’s and conferences among students within the university. Despite the importance of this aspect, less research has been conducted on it, especially in Arab countries. The purpose of the current work is to reveal the existence of the problem of social phobia among students of Jordanian public universities (Mutah University) in southern Jordan and determine the psychological effects of the problem of social phobia and its development among university students. This quantitative study was conducted on a sample of undergraduate students at different levels of study and from different faculties. Where they were chosen randomly and the number of participants was (615). The data was obtained through the use of a clear and controlled questionnaire. In addition, the data were analyzed using the descriptive analysis method, statistical analysis, and the psychosocial adjustment scale (Liebowitz). The results of this study, after analyzing the data, showed that 63.9% of the participants’ students (male and female) do not suffer from social phobia, and 21.6% of them have slight effects of social phobia and it has moderate psychological effects that affect their lives, while 14.5% of the participating students have a high level of feeling social phobia. This means that university students have a high sense of psychological and social adjustment, thus the psychological impact of social phobia affects the quality of lives of students. Where the participating students who suffer from social phobia, their quality of life is not good. The most important finding in this study is that social phobia exists among university students, especially females, and this affects their quality of life and it also causes psychological effects. The spread of social phobia among students may increase with time, so this problem must be taken care of and treated early. We also recommend decision-makers, officials, and specialists in the psychological aspect run specific programs and raise awareness and treat the injured by specialists in the field of mental health to avoid the spread of social phobia and reduce its psychological effects.

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