Social Anxiety as a Threat to the Mental Health of Undergraduate Students
Social Anxiety as a Threat to the Mental Health of Undergraduate Students
Loading...
Issue Date
2024-04-29
Authors
De Nat, Shelby
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The period of undergraduate studies typically falls within emerging adulthood. The time of undergraduate studies introduces a range of unique stressors which pose challenges to the mental health of undergraduate students. Social support has been found to be a significant protective factor against mental health challenges; however, undergraduate students often depart their existing support system to pursue their studies. Social anxiety is a highly prevalent mental health challenge associated with significant and diverse negative consequences for those who suffer from it. Despite the challenges associated with undergraduate studies and the prevalence and impact of social anxiety, little research has been conducted to understand the impact of social anxiety on the mental health of undergraduate students. This capstone paper examines the research on the typical challenges experienced by undergraduate students, the importance of social support to mental health, theories of social anxiety, and the impacts of social anxiety. This research concludes that social anxiety impacts undergraduate students through its negative impact on perceived social support, relationship quality, employment, treatment seeking behaviour, academic achievement, and social anxiety’s comorbidity with certain mental health disorders. This capstone paper concludes with suggesting the importance of universities and the counselling field considering the impact of social anxiety in their efforts to best meet the needs of the undergraduate student population.
Description
Keywords
social anxiety , Social Anxiety Disorder , social support , mental health , emerging adulthood
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States , openAccess