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.
