Screening of social phobia symptoms in a sample of Egyptian university students

Abstract 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.

【摘要】
**背景** 公开演讲是大学生取得学业成就的核心必备要件之一。当前阿拉伯世界范围内针对大学生社交恐惧的流行病学数据较为匮乏。
**研究目的** 本研究旨在对具有代表性的埃及大学生样本开展社交恐惧症状筛查，并梳理与之相关的潜在风险因素。
**研究方法** 共计2919名埃及大学生参与本研究。采用简易社交恐惧量表（Brief Social Phobia Scale, BSPS）对受试者进行社交恐惧筛查。将受试者在BSPS上的总分及各子维度得分与人口学及学业相关变量进行相关性分析。
**研究结果** 研究样本中约44%的个体存在社交恐惧症状。结果显示，受试者年龄与BSPS回避维度得分呈显著负相关（p < 0.05）；受教育学年与BSPS恐惧、回避及生理反应子维度得分亦呈显著负相关（p < 0.05）。回归分析表明，女性性别及医学专业学生身份为BSPS总分升高的多项预测因素。
**讨论** 本研究证实大学生群体中社交恐惧症状的检出率较高，同时明确了性别、身体质量指数（Body Mass Index, BMI）、受教育学年及院系类型等与社交恐惧各维度显著相关的预测因素。