Background & objectives: Social phobia is the most common anxiety disorder and usually develops in early adolescence or young adulthood, when there is a normal increase in self-consciousness. Few studies have examined the prevalence of social phobia among university students. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of social phobia among nursing and midwifery students.

Methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive design was used for doing this project during 2013. Two hundred and twenty (123 nursing and 97 midwifery) students from Nursing and Midwifery School of Qazvin University of Medical sciences were selected using consensus sampling method. A questionnaire in two parts (demographic data form and Social Phobia Inventory) was used for data gathering. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytic statistics in SPSS v.16.  

Results: Mean age of students was 21.23±3.8 year and the majority of the students were female (76.7%). Prevalence of social phobia was 28.6%. Intensity of social phobia was mild in 19.5%, moderate in7.3%, severe in 0.9% and very severe in 0.9% of students. Mother’s literacy was strongly associated with social phobia (OR=0.534, p<0.01) and residence area had a significant relationship with social phobia (OR=2.613, p<0.05) so lower level of education in mother and living in urban area increased chance of having social phobia.

Conclusion: Prevalence of social phobia was relatively high in this study. Preventive and therapeutic strategies are recommended to reduce the prevalence and adverse impact of social phobia among students.