ABSTRACT
Objective: The present study is carried out to explore the factors associated with phobia, to compare the severity of phobias between cases (mentally ill women) and controls (never mentally ill) and to identify the factors predicting different types of phobias. Methods: A cross sectional study among female cases and controls is conducted. A sample of 150 female respondents including 30 cases and 120 controls is taken to assess the point prevalence of different types of phobias. The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) questionnaire was used to identify social phobia on a very severe, severe, moderate, mild and no phobia scale. Pearson chi square and spearman’s rank correlation was applied to assess the associations among different factors and various types of phobias. Results: The most common phobia among the population was Agrizoophobia (93%) followed by Agoraphobia (81%) and Taphophobia (74%). Among cases, age is was associated with Agoraphobia and Acrophobia, marital status of the respondent was associated with Agoraphobia and Acrophobia, marital status of father is associated with social phobia and Aichmophobia, traumatic event was associated with Mysophobia while family income was associated with Acrophobia and Aichmophobia. Age and Agoraphobia, and marital status and Acrophobia show significant results among controls. Multiple discriminant Analysis demonstrated that among cases, age was the best predictor in predicting Agoraphobia and Acrophobia , marital status of father was the best predictor in predicting Nosocomeophobia and traumatic event was the best predictor in predicting Mysophobia. Conclusion: Severe specific phobias are more prevalent among cases while controls suffer from mild specific phobias. Age, marital status of father and traumatic event in life are significant predictors for phobias.