Prevalence of Social Phobia, Gender and School Type among Young Adults in Nigerian Universities

Social phobia is a debilitating psychiatric condition that is treatable but often remains undetected and untreated and without treatment, clients are at risk for complications, such as reduced quality of life, social interactions, daily functioning, and treatment adherence. Not very much is known about social phobia in Africa and in Nigeria specifically. This study seeks to fill the gap by investigating the prevalence of social phobia and some demographic determinants of the same among young adults in Nigerian universities. 400 students were surveyed from 5 universities in southwest Nigeria, two of which are private universities and the other three are public ones. The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) was used to collect data for the study. Findings showed a high prevalence of social phobia among the participants, with 20% of them manifesting severe social phobia and 16.8% manifesting extremely severe social phobia. Neither gender nor school type revealed statistically significant differences in the manifestation of social phobia. Findings may be useful in further understanding the prevalence of social phobia among young adults and determining possible clinical intervention in schools.