The Effect of Social Phobia / Social Anxiety Disorder on Academic Performance in the Case of Addis Ababa University

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Date

2010-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between social anxiety/social phobia and students ' academic performance. Participants were 228 4th year AAU regular students (133 males, 95 females) randomly selected from 4 streams (social science, natural science, language and physical education). To measure the participant's level of social anxiety/social phobia, an instrument called Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) was used Based on this scale, 96 participants were found socially anxious. For lhese individuals the level of their anxiety was checked and females were found to be more socially anxious than males. ANOVA, t-test, Pearson correlation and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Results showed that social anxiety correlated negatively and significantly with academic performance. Total avoidance and avoidance of performance situations were Significant predictors of academic performance out of the six subscales of social anxiety/ social phobia. The academic performance of socially anxious groups was found insignificant when their mean GPA was considered on the basis of their streams.

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Keywords

Social Phobia / Social Anxiety Disorder

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