Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the W... more Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western society with prevalence rates of 10% or above. However, very few studies have been performed in the Middle East and in Arab countries. Methods: A total of 300 Israeli students participated in our study and were administered the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Cheek and Buss Shyness Questionnaire (CBSQ), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: A total of 153 Jewish and 147 Arab students participated in the survey. Social anxiety disorder was found in 12.33% of the sample, according to the LSAS cutoff score of more than 60. The 2 subsamples had similar LSAS and CBSQ scores and similar SAD-positive rates (LSAS N60). Females had higher scores on the LSAS, as were those without a spouse and those who had been in psychological treatment. Based on a regression analysis, the significant predictors of the LSAS score were the CBSQ score and female sex. A very high correlation was found between the LSAS and the CBSQ scores. Conclusions: Although our sample is not representative of the whole Israeli population, we conclude that SAD and shyness were similarly prevalent in Jewish and Arab students in Israel. Social anxiety disorder scores were higher among females, those without a spouse, and those who received psychological treatment. Further studies on the clinical and cultural characteristics of SAD in Israeli subcultures would add to the growing body of knowledge on SAD in various cultures.
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western socie... more Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western society and is characterized by low self-esteem, pessimism, procrastination and also perfectionism. Very few studies on SAD have been done in the Middle East or in Arab countries, and no study tackled the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in non-Western samples. We examined social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in a group of 132 Israeli Jewish (IJ) and Israeli Arab (IA) students. Subjects completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the Negative Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-N), the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-P) and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The rate of SAD in our sample according to a LSAS score of 60 or more was 17.2% (IJ=13.8%, IA=19%, ns). The correlation between perfectionism and the LSAS was high in both groups, and in particular in the IJ group. The IA group had higher scores of social avoidance, of ATQ-P and of two of the MPS subscales: parental expectations and parental criticism. Concern over mistakes and negative automatic thoughts positively predicted social fear in the IJ group, whereas in the IA group being female, religious and less educated positively predicted social fear. Negative automatic thoughts and age positively predicted social avoidance in the IJ group. In general, the IJ and IA subjects showed higher social anxiety, higher ATQ-N scores and lower parental expectations as compared with non-clinical US samples. Social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism are prevalent in Arab and Jewish students in Israel and seem to be closely related. Further studies among non-western minority groups may detect cultural influences on social anxiety and might add to the growing body of knowledge on this intriguing condition.
This paper describes from a linguistic point of view the impact of the Hebrew spoken in Israel on... more This paper describes from a linguistic point of view the impact of the Hebrew spoken in Israel on the Arabic spoken natively by Israeli Arabs. Two main conditions enable mutual influences between Hebrew and Arabic in Israel: − The existence of two large groups of people speaking both languages within a single geographical area: Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. The former are a local, dominant group; the latter are a minority group. − The minority group is sufficiently large that changes originating in language contact become apparent in the minority language. Both Hebrew and Arabic are official languages in the state of Israel. Israeli Arabs, who are citizens of Israel and speakers of Arabic, and Israeli Jews, who are speakers of Hebrew, has daily contact in many fields of life. Many Arabs work for Hebrew-speaking employers, study in Israeli universities and colleges, or provide services to the Hebrew-speaking population. As a result, a great deal of mutual linguistic influence is observed in each language. Our data show that spoken Hebrew elements are very widespread in all linguistic fields of the Arabic spoken by Israeli Arabs, so widespread that the emergence can be identified of a new Israeli Arabic variety 1 The Hebrew that is spoken in Israel today is addressed differently by different scholars. Modern Hebrew is the term used by Berman (1978), Coffin-Amir and Bolozky (2005), and Schwarzwald (2008: 61). Modern Hebrew is also used by Sáenz-Badillos (1993: 270), who considers it as beginning in the closing years of the nineteenth century, simultaneously with Jewish settlement in Palestine. Contemporary Hebrew rather than Modern Hebrew is the term used by Rosén (1977), who adopts it from Téné (1968) and suggests broadening this term to Contemporary Israeli .
Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the W... more Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western society with prevalence rates of 10% or above. However, very few studies have been performed in the Middle East and in Arab countries. Methods: A total of 300 Israeli students participated in our study and were administered the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Cheek and Buss Shyness Questionnaire (CBSQ), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: A total of 153 Jewish and 147 Arab students participated in the survey. Social anxiety disorder was found in 12.33% of the sample, according to the LSAS cutoff score of more than 60. The 2 subsamples had similar LSAS and CBSQ scores and similar SAD-positive rates (LSAS N60). Females had higher scores on the LSAS, as were those without a spouse and those who had been in psychological treatment. Based on a regression analysis, the significant predictors of the LSAS score were the CBSQ score and female sex. A very high correlation was found between the LSAS and the CBSQ scores. Conclusions: Although our sample is not representative of the whole Israeli population, we conclude that SAD and shyness were similarly prevalent in Jewish and Arab students in Israel. Social anxiety disorder scores were higher among females, those without a spouse, and those who received psychological treatment. Further studies on the clinical and cultural characteristics of SAD in Israeli subcultures would add to the growing body of knowledge on SAD in various cultures.
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western socie... more Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has been repeatedly shown to be very prevalent in the Western society and is characterized by low self-esteem, pessimism, procrastination and also perfectionism. Very few studies on SAD have been done in the Middle East or in Arab countries, and no study tackled the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in non-Western samples. We examined social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism in a group of 132 Israeli Jewish (IJ) and Israeli Arab (IA) students. Subjects completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the Negative Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-N), the Positive Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-P) and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The rate of SAD in our sample according to a LSAS score of 60 or more was 17.2% (IJ=13.8%, IA=19%, ns). The correlation between perfectionism and the LSAS was high in both groups, and in particular in the IJ group. The IA group had higher scores of social avoidance, of ATQ-P and of two of the MPS subscales: parental expectations and parental criticism. Concern over mistakes and negative automatic thoughts positively predicted social fear in the IJ group, whereas in the IA group being female, religious and less educated positively predicted social fear. Negative automatic thoughts and age positively predicted social avoidance in the IJ group. In general, the IJ and IA subjects showed higher social anxiety, higher ATQ-N scores and lower parental expectations as compared with non-clinical US samples. Social anxiety symptoms and perfectionism are prevalent in Arab and Jewish students in Israel and seem to be closely related. Further studies among non-western minority groups may detect cultural influences on social anxiety and might add to the growing body of knowledge on this intriguing condition.
This paper describes from a linguistic point of view the impact of the Hebrew spoken in Israel on... more This paper describes from a linguistic point of view the impact of the Hebrew spoken in Israel on the Arabic spoken natively by Israeli Arabs. Two main conditions enable mutual influences between Hebrew and Arabic in Israel: − The existence of two large groups of people speaking both languages within a single geographical area: Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. The former are a local, dominant group; the latter are a minority group. − The minority group is sufficiently large that changes originating in language contact become apparent in the minority language. Both Hebrew and Arabic are official languages in the state of Israel. Israeli Arabs, who are citizens of Israel and speakers of Arabic, and Israeli Jews, who are speakers of Hebrew, has daily contact in many fields of life. Many Arabs work for Hebrew-speaking employers, study in Israeli universities and colleges, or provide services to the Hebrew-speaking population. As a result, a great deal of mutual linguistic influence is observed in each language. Our data show that spoken Hebrew elements are very widespread in all linguistic fields of the Arabic spoken by Israeli Arabs, so widespread that the emergence can be identified of a new Israeli Arabic variety 1 The Hebrew that is spoken in Israel today is addressed differently by different scholars. Modern Hebrew is the term used by Berman (1978), Coffin-Amir and Bolozky (2005), and Schwarzwald (2008: 61). Modern Hebrew is also used by Sáenz-Badillos (1993: 270), who considers it as beginning in the closing years of the nineteenth century, simultaneously with Jewish settlement in Palestine. Contemporary Hebrew rather than Modern Hebrew is the term used by Rosén (1977), who adopts it from Téné (1968) and suggests broadening this term to Contemporary Israeli .
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Papers by Samia Joubran