JMIR Publications

Social anxiety is a prevalent mental disorder categorized within the broader spectrum of anxiety disorders. Within human-centered studies, researchers frequently utilize self-reported scales (SRS) to recruit and longitudinally monitor participants experiencing social anxiety, primarily due to their time efficiency. However, the validity of these SRS must be established within the specific population under study to ensure predictive validity and enable cross-study analyses. In this study, we conducted the first-time validation of the widely used SRS, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), in comparison with the already established Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) in the Indian population. Our sample comprised 425 Indian students from various regions of India. The SIAS demonstrated a high concurrence validation coefficient of 0.8 with the SPIN, indicating strong agreement between the two instruments. Besides validating the SIAS, our study also explores the prevalence of social anxiety among the student population in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. While numerous prevalence studies have been conducted with the student population before the pandemic, our investigation sheds light on the current landscape. Our findings revealed a notable prevalence of social anxiety, with 40\% of students experiencing symptoms. These statistics underscore the urgent need for effective digital interventions to address social anxiety disorder, particularly considering the high population density and limited availability of psychiatrists in India. Furthermore, our study identified key concerns reported by students in their daily lives, including difficulties in making new friends, initiating conversations, attending social gatherings, and expressing themselves. An important insight gleaned from our research is that students are not hesitant to communicate with individuals in higher positions. However, it is noteworthy that females exhibited lower comfort levels in these interactions than males.