Communication apprehension among college students in Hainan province: a cross-sectional study

Objective To examine the prevalence of communication apprehension among college students in Hainan province and to provide evidences for conducting mental health education in university students.Methods A total of 516 university students were selected from a comprehensive and a medical university in Hainan province with stratified random sampling and surveyed with Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 Items(PRCA-24).Results Among the students, the detection rate of high communication apprehension was 12.4%;the scores for dyadic and meeting communication were 15.26±3.94 and 17.41±3.99 and both the scores were significantly higher than those of the norm of college students in United States(both P<0.01).The score for public communication(17.97±3.72) was significantly lower than that of norm of college students in the United States.There was a significant gender difference in dyadic communication, with a higher score in the boys(15.86±4.17) than in the girls(14.96±3.80).The students from medical university had higher scores than those from the comprehensive university for overall communication apprehension(66.93±13.58 vs.64.53±11.43) and dyadic communication (15.72±4.13 vs.14.60±3.57).Compared to those of the students of other grade, the junior students in the medical university had the highest scores in dyadic communication, group communication and overall communication apprehension(17.41±4.45, 17.14±4.61, and 71.86±15.33), but no significant difference in the scores was observed among the students of different grade in the comprehensive university.Conclusion The prevalence of communication apprehension among university students in Hainan province needs to be concerned and initiatives should be taken to improve psychological environment in the campus and to promote training programs on interpersonal communication skills among the students.