Social Phobia Prevalence among Academicians in Cumhuriyet University

Introduction and Aim: Social phobia; It is a public health problem that can lead to failure in working life, major depression and even suicide.The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of social phobia and related factors in academicians from Cumhuriyet University. Method: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2017. The universe of the study consists of 1605 academicians working in the health, science and social science fields of Cumhuriyet University. The sample size was determined as 216. A two-part questionnaire was applied to the participants. The first part consists of questions that investigating the sociodemographic characteristics and the variables that we think are related to social phobia. The second part consists of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) Results: The frequency of social phobia was found to be 9.0%. While the prevalence of mild and significant social phobia was 3.6%, the prevalence of social phobia was 1.8%. More than half of the academicians show avoidance behavior in situations requiring performance. Conclusion: As a result, it has been found that social phobia has a significant frequency of 9.0%. This situation, which may adversely affect the professional performance and mental health of academicians, is important for public health.