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©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 16, 2014; 2(7): 265-271
Published online Jul 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i7.265
Published online Jul 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i7.265
Role of ethnicity in social anxiety disorder: A cross-sectional survey among health science students
Philip De Jager, Vrije Universiteit, Faculty of Health Sciences, 1055 VB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sharain Suliman, Soraya Seedat, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
Author contributions: De Jager P conceptualized and conducted the study, wrote the protocol, analyzed and interpreted data and was the first author on the manuscript; Suliman S analyzed and interpreted the data and co-authored the manuscript; Seedat S conceptualised the study, supervised the protocol and study, anlyzed and interpreted the data and co-authored and supervised the manuscript.
Supported by The South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation
Correspondence to: Dr. Sharain Suliman, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa. sharain@sun.ac.za
Telephone: +27-21-9389161 Fax: +27-21-9335790
Received: April 14, 2014
Revised: May 26, 2014
Accepted: June 18, 2014
Published online: July 16, 2014
Revised: May 26, 2014
Accepted: June 18, 2014
Published online: July 16, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: We investigated the relationship between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and ethnicity, as well as its association with depression and alcohol and drug abuse, among South African students. High levels of social anxiety were present and were significantly associated with major depression but not with drug or alcohol abuse. Ethnicity was found to independently influence social anxiety symptomatology, suggesting that it is an important factor in student interactions in this context. These results contribute to the extant literature by demonstrating that different risk factors may be uniquely associated with SAD for different ethnic/racial groups, and require further exploration given South Africa’s historical context.