Social anxiety in medical students: Implications for communication skills teaching.
BACKGROUND
Social anxiety manifests as a fear of social situations, including being observed by others (Bruce & Saeed 1999). Communication skills workshops frequently involve student performance being observed by others, therefore social anxiety may impact upon attitudes to this style of teaching.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the levels of social anxiety amongst medical undergraduates and investigate whether this influenced attitudes towards communication skills teaching.


METHODS
247 medical students (three year groups, 60% female) from the University of St Andrews completed a questionnaire survey measuring levels of social anxiety and attitudes to communication skills teaching (Mattick & Clarke 1998; Rees et al. 2002 ).


RESULTS
Average social anxiety scores in the students were lower (t-tests, P < 0.001) than other groups measured by Mattick & Clarke (1998). A minority (8%) of medical undergraduates however experienced high levels of social anxiety. High social anxiety scores correlated with negative attitudes to communication skills teaching, especially among female students (r = 0.359, P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Social anxiety contributes to a negative attitude towards communication skills teaching and may impact on participation in group workshops. This information could influence the methods tutors use for the provision of feedback in such workshops.
Laidlaw
Anita H
AH
University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK. ahl1@st-andrews.ac.uk
D003142:Communication; D004493:Education; D004501:Education, Medical; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology