Social anxiety in young people: A prevalence study in seven countries

Abstract

Social anxiety is a fast-growing phenomenon which is thought to disproportionately affect young people. In this study, we explore the prevalence of social anxiety around the world using a self-report survey of 6,825 individuals (male = 3,342, female = 3,428, other = 55), aged 16-29 years (M = 22.84, SD = 3.97), from seven countries selected for their cultural and economic diversity: Brazil, China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, US, and Vietnam. The respondents completed the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS). The global prevalence of social anxiety was found to be significantly higher than previously reported, with more than 1 in 3 (36%) respondents meeting the threshold criteria for having Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Prevalence and severity of social anxiety symptoms did not differ between sexes but varied as a function of age, country, work status, level of education, and whether an individual lived in an urban or rural location. Additionally, 1 in 6 (18%) perceived themselves as not having social anxiety, yet still met or exceeded the threshold for SAD. The data indicate that social anxiety is a concern for young adults around the world, many of whom do not recognise the difficulties they may experience. A large number of young people may be experiencing substantial disruptions in functioning and well-being which may be ameliorable with appropriate education and intervention.

Sociodemographic Correlates and Mental Health Comorbidities in Adolescents With Social Anxiety: The Young-HUNT3 Study, Norway

“…There is good evidence that individuals with subclinical social anxiety also experience functional impairment across several aspects of life and have an elevated risk of comorbid psychiatric disorders (Fehm et al, 2008;Filho et al, 2010;Crişan et al, 2016). In other words, the total number of individuals with social anxiety who experience stress and impairments likely exceeds the estimated prevalences of SAD (Jefferies and Ungar, 2020). Reflecting this issue, prevalence studies based on self-report questionnaires with diagnostic cutoffs tend to report higher prevalence rates (Inglés et al, 2010;Gren-Landell et al, 2011;Jefferies and Ungar, 2020) than studies based only on diagnostic interviews (Demir et al, 2013;Canals et al, 2019;Georgiades et al, 2019).…”

“…In other words, the total number of individuals with social anxiety who experience stress and impairments likely exceeds the estimated prevalences of SAD (Jefferies and Ungar, 2020). Reflecting this issue, prevalence studies based on self-report questionnaires with diagnostic cutoffs tend to report higher prevalence rates (Inglés et al, 2010;Gren-Landell et al, 2011;Jefferies and Ungar, 2020) than studies based only on diagnostic interviews (Demir et al, 2013;Canals et al, 2019;Georgiades et al, 2019). Moreover, differences between interview-and self-report -based prevalence rates could be due to the nature of social anxiety itself, as fear of an interview situation may result in nonattendance or underreporting of symptom severity.…”

Psychometric properties of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale in Hungarian adults and adolescents

“…A previous study identified mismatches between the DSM criteria and the local phenomenology of SAD in specific cultural contexts [45]. Although there is mounting evidence [46][47][48] that the prevalence and expression of SAD are culture-dependent, most of the research on social anxiety has been conducted in the United States. Further, the SIAS and SPS scales have only been used in Australian, American, Japanese, and South Korean samples [29,49].…”

“…Although previous studies showed the clinical utility of the scales [29,30], this has only been done on American samples. Since the prevalence and expression of SAD are culture-dependent [46][47][48], examining the clinical applicability of SIAS-6 and SPS-6 in other cultures is necessary. As social anxiety often develops during adolescence [53], apart from an adult and a clinical sample, we also recruited an adolescent community sample to evaluate whether the questionnaires are suitable for screening for SAD in adolescents.…”

Social Anxiety and Resilience: Associations Vary by Country and Sex

“…Elsewhere, aymat zibur has been put forward as a particular concern for orthodox Jews that translates as 'fear of the community' and relates to concerns about performing religious activities (Greenberg, Stravynski, & Bilu, 2004). These studies are part of an emerging body of literature suggesting that there may be culture-specific elements of social anxiety, including domains of concern and the situations that can prompt social anxiety (see also Jefferies & Ungar, 2020;Kleinknecht, Dinnel, Kleinknecht, Hiruma, & Harada, 1997).…”