The association between social anxiety disorder and parenting style among nursing students.

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common mental health concern affecting students globally and in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of SAD among nursing students and examine its association with various parenting styles.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 141 female nursing students at the College of Nursing at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS). Participants completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). The study data were collected using Microsoft Forms. An ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between SAD and parenting styles.

Results: The prevalence of SAD among the nursing students was 47.5%, with 6.4% having severe SAD and 2.8% having very severe SAD. The authoritative parenting style was the most frequently reported, with 58.2% of the students reporting having an authoritative mother and 44.7% reporting having an authoritative father. Maternal (odds ratio [OR] = 0.181, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.062, 0.527, p = 0.001) and paternal (OR = 0.186, 95% CI = 0.060, 0.574, p = 0.003) authoritative parenting styles were associated with a decrease in the odds of experiencing symptoms of SAD among nursing students. Additionally, a paternal authoritarian parenting style (OR = 2.816, 95% CI = 1.011, 8.218, p = 0.048) was associated with an increase in the odds of experiencing SAD symptoms. However, maternal authoritarian parenting style was not significantly associated with SAD symptoms among students (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: The parenting style is an influential factor contributing to the experience of SAD in nursing students. In this study, both authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles were significantly associated with the symptoms of SAD. Nursing educators and mental health professionals must establish appropriate strategies to help students cope with SAD. Moreover, educational programs targeting parents must be implemented to increase their awareness of the impact of parental practices on their children's mental health.