Social phobia and its associated factors among college‑going nursing students in the post‑COVID era: Findings from west Bengal, India

Background: Social phobia is “marked and persistent fear of social or performance‑related situations.” The risk of developing social anxiety due to COVID‑19 is more than other psychological disorders. Awareness and undertaking measures to overcome a social phobia are important for nursing students.Objectives: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of social phobia, related functional disability, and factors associated with social phobia among students in the College of Nursing, Darjeeling, West Bengal.Methods: A descriptive, cross‑sectional study was conducted among 248 nursing students. The Social Phobia Inventory, a validated self‑administered questionnaire, was used to assess social phobia; the Sheehan Disability Scale was used to assess functional disability. Analytical statistics were done using the Chi‑square test.Results: The majority (54.4%) of students had social phobia; among them, 59.3% had associated functional disability. The proportion of social phobia was higher among students aged 30 (64.7%). Social phobia was significantly higher among students who never participated in extracurricular activities (P = 0.000), who were ever bullied (P = 0.013), and having unsatisfactory academic performance (P = 0.011). The proportion of social phobia was higher among those who experienced any major traumatic incident (64.8%). The majority of students felt that involvement in peer group activities (68.5%), extracurricular activities (61.7%), and group studies (49.2%) could prevent social phobia. About 17.6% of students showed marked functional disability in social life, 11.2% in family life, and 7.4% at work.Conclusion: Social phobia is highly prevalent among nursing students. Extracurricular and peer group activities with institutional support might help students to overcome social phobia.