Social Anxiety and suicidal thoughts and their relationship to academic performance among a sample of Jordanian university students

Abstract

Background & Statement of the problem: Social anxiety disorder experienced by young people resulting from the negative understanding of social practices towards them, and the decline in their academic performance level due to these disorders, especially after being affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, which has played a significant role in affecting all areas in general and the academic field in particular, which has contributed to students’ feelings of fear and concern for their low academic attainment due to the sudden change in teaching through e-earning; This may be a factor in increasing anxiety and generating irrational ideas that may affect their mental health.

Objectives: This study aims to discover the levels of social anxiety and suicidal thoughts, and the relationship of social anxiety and suicidal thoughts to academic performance. The study sample consisted of 386 students.

Methods: The descriptive correlational methodology was used. Social anxiety and suicidal thoughts scales were developed after checking their reliability and validity.

Results: The results show that the level of social anxiety was moderate while the level of suicidal ideation was low.
The results also indicates that there is a statistically significant positive correlation between social anxiety and suicidal
ideation. The results also show that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between academic performance and each of social anxiety and suicidal ideation. Also, there is no statistically significant differences in the levels of social anxiety and suicidal ideation due to gender.

Conclusions (Recommendations and contributions): The study recommended the importance of initiating preventive counseling programs at universities.