Asian Journal of Education and Training, 2018, 4(4): 257-265 Asian Journal of Education and Training Vol. 4, No. 4, 257-265, 2018 ISSN(E) 2519-5387 DOI: 10.20448/journal.522.2018.44.257.265 Research on Social Anxiety Level and Communication Skills of Secondary School Students Mustafa KOÇ1 ( Corresponding Author) Aykut DÜNDAR2 1,2Adıyaman University, School of Physical Education and Sports, Adıyaman, Turkey Abstract The aim of his study is to examine the social anxiety level and communication skills of secondary school students in terms of some variables. A total of 382 students, 192 males and 190 females attending the secondary education institutions of the province Adıyaman in the academic year 2016-2017, participated in the study. The scale developed by Özbay and Palancı (2001) to measure the social anxiety level of the students and the scale developed by Korkut (1997) to measure communication skills were used. In the analysis of the data, the statistical package program was used. T-test and variance analysis (ANOVA) were used in independent groups, Post Hoc Tukey test was used for the differences between groups and Pearson correlation test was used for finding relationship; error level is obtained as 0,01 and 0,05. As a result of the research, there was no significant difference was found in social anxiety and communication skills in terms of the students' genders and the fact that whether they do sports or not. A statistically significant relationship was found between the communication skills of the individuals and their social anxiety scores in the strong negative direction. It was seen that the students with more communication skills had lower social anxiety scores. A statistically significant relationship was found in the strong positive direction between the students' social anxiety level and social anxiety sub-scale scores. A statistically significant relationship was found in the positive direction between the students' communication skills and communication skills sub-scale scores. Keywords: Student, Communication skills, Social anxiety. Citation | Mustafa KOÇ; Aykut DÜNDAR (2018). Research on Social Anxiety Level and Communication Skills of Secondary School Students. Asian Journal of Education and Training, 4(4): 257-265. History: Received: 3 July 2018 Revised: 19 July 2018 Accepted: 25 July 2018 Published: 31 July 2018 Licensed: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License Publisher: Asian Online Journal Publishing Group Contribution/Acknowledgement: Both authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. Funding: This study received no specific financial support. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests. Transparency: The authors confirm that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study was reported; that no vital features of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. Ethical: This study follows all ethical practices during writing. Contents 1. Introduction 258 2. Method 258 3. Findings 259 4. Discussion and Conclusion 264 References 264 1. Introduction Adolescents enter a wider social environment in school and other social activities not limited to the family and they start to enter different environments in which they initiate and sustain new relationships. It is both a developmental task and a source of anxiety for the adolescent to show themselves in different social environments, to establish close relation with the opposite gender, to achieve academic success, to choose a profession, to prepare for a career and business life and to succeed in matters such as choosing a spouse (Eren, 2006). Communication has an important role in human life. By nature, people are in need of communicating with other people (Cüceloğlu, 2000). Through communication, people make sense of the messages by conveying the messages they want to each other and they give feedback to the other individual. The other person also passes through the same process and gives a feedback. This transmission network creates communication (Dökmen, 1994). Social anxiety is a type of anxiety that is expected to be experienced in relationships. Individuals experiencing social anxiety show tension and it is very difficult for them to intensify attention on a certain topic. These individuals are aware that the situation they are experiencing comes to existence in social environments. Although tension is fairly normal before a date or a meeting, the distinctive point in here is that it is continuous and impairs the individual's daily functioning (Burger, 2006); (Cağlar et al., 2012). Through communication, a person becomes part of a society and gets over loneliness. While individuals express desired behaviours through communication, he or she may want other people in society to act on his or her wish and may accomplish this. The communication form of a person may vary according to the existing environment. In this way, the person will have adapted to the environment (Urgüplü, 2006). In the behavioural changes teachers try to create in their students, in the provision of learning, communication skills come to the forefront. Students benefit from the communication skills of their teachers while acquiring new knowledge and skills through learning (Ergin and Birol, 2000). In addition to being the totality of some physical activities, sports also express a concept that helps the individual to socialize by giving people a sense of personal and social identity and group membership (Küçük and Koç, 2004). Sports is interwoven with many sciences that concern humans. Sports, a multidisciplinary science, is closely related to the field of psychology. Along with the improvements in sports psychology, sports and personality have been one of the most studied topics in recent years (Oda, 2014). If sports, which is a form of education, is considered as a physical and spiritual education, it is seen that sport and education are the same. Sports is of great importance in terms of both physical development and mental and social health of the individual (Güçlü, 2000). Being healthier, hopeful, assertive and socially better of young people, who are the guarantee of the future, depend on many causes. These can be accomplished by performing the activities of arts, cultural centres, music, conversation and sports etc (Ozer, 2017). 2. Method The research was conducted using a screening model in order to determine the relationship between social anxiety level and communication skills of secondary school students. 2.1. Study Group The sample of the study consist of a total of 382 (190 females, 192 males) students selected with simple unselected sampling method and studying at the secondary schools in Adıyaman province in 2016-2017 academic year. 2.2. Data Collection The data of the study were obtained using the Communication Skills Questionnaire, Social Anxiety Scale and Personal Information Form. The socio-demographic characteristics of the participants were obtained by the personal information form prepared by the researcher. 2.2.1. Social Anxiety Scale The scale developed by Özbay and Palancı (2001) was used to identify students' social anxiety problems. The social anxiety scale has three sub-dimensions named as social avoidance, anxiety of evaluation (criticism) and individual sense of worthlessness. Anxiety about social avoidance, communication and social interaction include various conditions or symptoms of social anxiety such as difficulty in speaking, reluctance, difficulty in getting involved in the crowd, living anxiety about authority, fear of being watched, seen by others. Anxiety of evaluation includes concerns such as being negatively evaluated by others, fear of being humiliated in front of others and rejection. Sense of worthlessness dimension reflects the situations and contents such as feeling self-worthless, not accepting personal characteristics, not trusting oneself, not being satisfied with oneself, feeling unsuccessful. 2.2.2. Communication Skills Scale The scale developed by Korkut (1997) was used to measure the Communication Skills of the students. It was developed as a 5-point Likert type with a total of 25 items. The increase in the scores indicates that communication skills are increasing. The sample has four sub-dimensions; Basic Communication Skills, The Self Expression Skill, Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills, Ability of Willingness to Establish Communication. 2.3. Data Analysis In the analysis of data obtained from Communication Skills Scale and Social Anxiety Scale SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for Windows 18.0 statistical package program was used. Before testing students' communication skills and their level of social anxiety according to various demographic variables, whether the research data carry the normal distribution feature was subjected to normality test. Since the data showed normal distribution characteristics as a result of the normality test, parametric analysis methods were used. Statistical significance was evaluated as p<0.05 for all tests. 3. Findings In the study, the relationship between social anxiety and communication skills was examined. Whether the level of social anxiety and communication skills of the individuals differ according to the gender, sport and educational status of the parents were examined with the SPSS (18.00) statistical program. While statistically One Way ANOVA and differences between groups were examined with Post Hoc Tukey test, bivariate Pearson correlation method was used to find the relationship. Table-1. Distribution of Students, Participating in the Study, According to Demographic Characteristics Variables n % Genders Male 192 50,3 Female 190 49,7 Grades 1th grade 64 16,8 2 th Grade 182 47,6 3 th Grade 108 28,3 4 th Grade 28 7,3 Schools Regular High Schools 28 7,3 Sports High Schools 86 22,5 Anatolian High Schools 158 41,4 Private High Schools 110 28,8 Doing Sports Sports 166 43,5 Non-sports 216 56,5 Families Member Doing Sports Sports 100 26,2 Non-sports 282 73,8 Father's Educational Status Primary School, 96 25,1 Secondary School 112 29,3 High School 112 29,3 University 62 16,2 Mother's Educational Status Primary School, 182 47,6 Secondary School 92 24,1 High School 78 20,4 University 30 7,9 Source: Author's field work As shown in Table 1, (190) 49.7% of the participants are female, (192) 50.3% are male. 16.8% of participants are 1st grade students, %47.6 are 2nd grade, 28.3% are 3rd grade and 7.3% are 4th grade students. 7.3% of the students are studying at regular high schools, 22.5% are at sports high schools, 41.4% are in Anatolian high schools and 28,8% of them are studying in private high schools. 43.5% of the students are doing sports, 56.5% are not. 73.8% of the individuals do not have other family members doing sports and 26.2% of the individuals have other members in their families doing sports. Table-2. Students' social anxiety and sub-dimensions and t test results of communication skills and their sub dimensions according to gender variable Variables Gender n x sd t p Social Avoidance Male 192 2,3281 ,81888 ,389 ,697 Female 190 2,2956 ,81269 Anxiety of Evaluation Male 192 2,6771 ,84661 -,641 ,522 Female 190 2,7295 ,74746 Sense of Worthlessness Male 192 2,2070 ,75518 -,552 ,581 Female 190 2,2500 ,76614 Total Social Anxiety Male 192 2,4122 ,75086 -,215 ,830 Female 190 2,4281 ,69643 Basic Communication Skills, Male 192 3,7323 ,83227 -1,649 ,100 Female 190 3,8674 ,76697 Self-Expression Skill Male 192 3,7474 ,87317 -,514 ,607 Female 190 3,7921 ,82508 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills Male 192 3,5729 ,84307 -3,660 ,000* Female 190 3,8684 ,73017 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill Male 192 3,6583 ,83380 1,485 ,138 Female 190 3,5326 ,82017 Total Communication Skill Male 192 3,6817 ,75421 -1,463 ,144 Female 190 3,7886 ,67268 Source: Calculated from primary data *Level of significance at p<0.05 As shown in the Table 2, it has been found that there is a significant difference between male and female students in effective Listening and Nonverbal Communication Skill, which is the sub-dimension of communication skills. The score average of the female students has been found higher than the average of the male students. There was no significant difference in terms of gender in communication skills and their other sub-dimensions as well as social anxiety and its sub-dimensions. Table-3. Social anxiety and its sub-dimensions, t-test results of communication skills and their sub-dimensions according to whether or not students are doing sports Variables Doing Sports n x sd t p Social Avoidance Sports 166 2,3504 ,88199 ,808 ,420 Non-sports 216 2,2824 ,76010 Anxiety of Evaluation Sports 166 2,7843 ,84142 1,748 ,081 Non-sports 216 2,6407 ,75944 Sense of Worthlessness Sports 166 2,2831 ,84209 1,235 ,218 Non-sports 216 2,1863 ,68931 Total Social Anxiety Sports 166 2,4771 ,78843 1,352 ,177 Non-sports 216 2,3762 ,66771 Basic Communication Skills Sports 166 3,7072 ,86561 -1,978 ,049 Non-sports 216 3,8704 ,74425 Self-Expression Skill Sports 166 3,6928 ,93040 -1,554 ,121 Non-sports 216 3,8287 ,77733 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills Sports 166 3,6305 ,87079 -1,917 ,056 Non-sports 216 3,7886 ,73895 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill Sports 166 3,5759 ,89410 -,411 ,681 Non-sports 216 3,6111 ,77584 Total Communication Skill Sports 166 3,6602 ,77561 -1,791 ,074 Non-sports 216 3,7922 ,66250 Source: Calculated from primary data Level of significance at p<0.05 As seen in Table 3, in social anxiety and its sub-dimensions, communication skills and their sub-dimensions there was no statistically significant difference between the scores of the students who did sports and those who did not.      Table-4. T-test results of Students' social anxiety and subscales, communication skills and subscales according to kind of sports Variables Kind of Sport n x Sd t p Social Avoidance Individual sports 76 2,3289 ,78409 -,287 ,774 Team sports 90 2,3685 ,96092 Anxiety of Evaluation Individual sports 76 2,7500 ,71657 -,482 ,630 Team sports 90 2,8133 ,93703 Sense of Worthlessness Individual sports 76 2,2072 ,84226 1,068 ,287 Team sports 90 2,3472 ,84130 Total Social Anxiety Individual sports 76 2,4368 ,69690 -,604 ,547 Team sports 90 2,5111 ,86060 Basic Communication Skills Individual sports 76 3,7053 ,86223 -,027 ,979 Team sports 90 3,7089 ,87328 Self-Expression Skill Individual sports 76 3,6711 ,91671 -,276 ,783 Team sports 90 3,7111 ,94654 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills Individual sports 76 3,5789 ,90245 -,700 ,485 Team sports 90 3,6741 ,84575 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill Individual sports 76 3,6105 ,85285 ,457 ,648 Team sports 90 3,5467 ,93126 Total Communication Skill Individual sports 76 3,6505 ,74714 -,148 ,883 Team sports 90 3,6684 ,80294 Source: Calculated from primary data Level of significance at p<0.05 When the Table 4 is examined, there was no significant difference found between students' social anxiety and its sub-scale scores and communication skills and their sub-scale scores according to the sport they do.                                      Table-5. Correlation Analysis Results Between social anxiety level and its sub dimensions communication skills and their sub-dimensions Variables Basic Communication Skills Self-Expression Skill Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills Willingness to Establish Communication Skill Total Communication Skill Social Avoidance r -,156** -,298** -,114* -,126* -,186** p ,000 ,000 ,026 ,014 ,000 Anxiety of Evaluation r -,066 -,192** -,020 ,018 -,067 p ,196 ,000 ,703 ,726 ,190 Sense of Worthlessness r -,151** -,277** -,105* -,049 -,160** p ,003 ,000 ,040 ,340 ,002 Total Social Anxiety r -,137** -,283** -,088 -,064 -,153** p ,007 ,000 ,086 ,213 ,003 Source: Calculated from primary data ** Level of significance at p<0.01 * Level of significance at p<0.05 When the Table 5 is examined, in the social avoidance sub-dimension, there is a strong and meaningful relationship between scores of all sub-dimensions of total communication skills and communication skills in the negative direction. In the Evaluation Anxiety sub-dimension, there is a strong and meaningful relationship in the negative direction between self-expression skill sub-scale scores. There is a significant negative relationship among the scores of the sub-dimension of Sense of Worthlessness Basic communication skills, Self Expression Effective Listening and Nonverbal Communication Skills and Total Communication Skills There is a strong and meaningful relationship in the negative direction between the individuals' total social anxiety score and total communication skills score. Table-6. Correlation analysis results between level of social anxiety and sub dimensions Variables Anxiety of Evaluation Sense of Worthlessness Total Social Anxiety Social Avoidance r ,754** ,752** ,939** p ,000 ,000 ,000 Anxiety of Evaluation r ,696** ,903** p ,000 ,000 Sense of Worthlessness r ,875** p ,000 Source: Calculated from primary data ** Level of significance at p<0.01 A significant and positive relationship was found between social anxiety level score and sub-scale scores in the social anxiety scale total point averages. There was a significant positive relationship between the social avoidance sub-scale and the sub-scale of evaluation anxiety and sense of worthlessness. There was a significant positive correlation between the evaluation anxiety sub-scale and the sense of worthlessness sub-scale. Table-7. Correlation analysis results showing relationship between communication skills and their sub dimensions Variables Self-Expression Skill Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills Willingness to Establish Communication Skill Total Communication Skill Basic Communication Skills r ,654** ,758** ,695** ,937** p ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 Self-Expression Skill r ,640** ,660** ,807** p ,000 ,000 ,000 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills r ,611** ,871** p ,000 ,000 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill r ,833** p ,000 Source: Calculated from primary data ** Level of significance at p<0.01 There was a significant positive correlation between communication skill scale total score average and communication skill sub-scales. There was a significant positive correlation between scores of communication skill sub-scales. Table-8. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results of social anxiety level and communication skill sub-dimensions according to the schools that the students study Variables n x sd F p Social Avoidance Regular High School 28 2,5417 ,64290 ,811 ,488 Sports High School 86 2,2810 ,93760 Anatolian High School 158 2,2943 ,78251 Private High School 110 2,3030 ,79777 Anxiety of Evaluation Regular High School 28 2,7571 ,69358 ,487 ,691 Sports High School 86 2,6302 ,96248 Anatolian High School 158 2,7494 ,71148 Private High School 110 2,6800 ,80489 Sense of Worthlessness Regular High School 28 2,4643 ,79412 1,953 ,121 Sports High School 86 2,0959 ,85785 Anatolian High School 158 2,2231 ,63774 Private High School 110 2,2795 ,81975 Total Social Anxiety Regular High School 28 2,5929 ,61906 ,821 ,483 Sports High School 86 2,3481 ,84995 Anatolian High School 158 2,4270 ,64577 Private High School 110 2,4224 ,74724 Basic Communication Skills Regular High School 28 3,7714 ,90220 1,415 ,238 Sports High School 86 3,6721 ,98011 Anatolian High School 158 3,8886 ,63245 Private High School 110 3,7782 ,83539 Self-Expression Skill Regular High School 28 3,5536 ,66791 2,405 ,067 Sports High School 86 3,6512 1,03914 Anatolian High School 158 3,8956 ,68956 Private High School 110 3,7364 ,91298 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills Regular High School 28 3,5833 ,66589 2,331 ,074 Sports High School 86 3,6008 ,94498 Anatolian High School 158 3,8439 ,73693 Private High School 110 3,6697 ,78563 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill Regular High School 28 3,4857 ,57459 ,182 ,909 Sports High School 86 3,6140 ,88745 Anatolian High School 158 3,6000 ,76082 Private High School 110 3,6036 ,93022 Total Communication Skill Regular High School 28 3,6343 ,65063 1,503 ,213 Sports High School 86 3,6400 ,87101 Anatolian High School 158 3,8213 ,56730 Private High School 110 3,7105 ,78117 Source: Calculated from primary data Level of significance at p<0.05 When Table 8 is examined, no significant difference has been found between social anxiety and its sub-dimensions and communication skill and its sub-scale scores according to the schools where the students study. Table-9. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results of the social anxiety level and communication skill sub-dimensions according to father's educational status of students Variables n x sd F p Social Avoidance 1. Primary School, 96 2,4167 ,91814 5,133 ,002** 1-4 2-4 2. Secondary School 112 2,4539 ,83107 3. High School 112 2,2560 ,75102 4. University 62 1,9946 ,62395 Anxiety of Evaluation 1. Primary School, 96 2,9104 ,95966 5,347 ,001** 1-3 1-4 2. Secondary School 112 2,7875 ,73963 3. High School 112 2,5286 ,71904 4. University 62 2,5452 ,66866 Sense of Worthlessness 1. Primary School, 96 2,2396 ,83107 1,762 ,154 2. Secondary School 112 2,3415 ,71088 3. High School 112 2,1094 ,69832 4. University 62 2,2218 ,82153 Total Social Anxiety 1. Primary School, 96 2,5340 ,84953 4,032 ,008** 2-4 2. Secondary School 112 2,5351 ,69583 3. High School 112 2,3077 ,65317 4. University 62 2,2387 ,62113 Basic Communication Skills 1. Primary School, 96 3,8271 ,77044 1,130 ,337 2. Secondary School 112 3,8964 ,77714 3. High School 112 3,7179 ,88940 4. University 62 3,7290 ,72211 Self-Expression Skill 1. Primary School, 96 3,8646 ,79299 3,091 ,027* 3-4 2. Secondary School 112 3,7768 ,79650 3. High School 112 3,5848 ,99806 4. University 62 3,9435 ,66748 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills 1. Primary School, 96 3,8229 ,74959 1,934 ,124 2. Secondary School 112 3,7411 ,74731 3. High School 112 3,5744 ,90760 4. University 62 3,7849 ,75046 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill 1. Primary School, 96 3,5833 ,78280 1,847 ,138 2. Secondary School 112 3,6929 ,72232 3. High School 112 3,4571 ,97294 4. University 62 3,6903 ,77305 Total Communication Skill 1. Primary School, 96 3,7833 ,65492 1,640 ,180 2. Secondary School 112 3,7993 ,66016 3. High School 112 3,6100 ,84279 4. University 62 3,7690 ,63743 Source: Calculated from primary data ** Level of significance at p<0.01 * Level of significance at p<0.05 When the Table 9 is examined, according to the educational status of the students' fathers; there is a significant difference between the scores of the university graduates and the primary and secondary school graduates in the social avoidance subscale; In the Evaluation anxiety sub-dimension, there is a significant difference between primary school graduates and high school and university graduates and in the social anxiety sub-dimension, there is a significant difference between the scores of secondary school graduates and university graduates. According to the educational status of the father, there is a significant difference between the scores of high school graduates and university graduates in the sub-dimension of Self Expression Skill. There was no significant difference was found between the scores of communication skill and other sub-dimensions according to father's educational status. Table-10. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results of the social anxiety level and communication skill sub-dimensions according to Mother's educational status of students Variables n x sd F p Social Avoidance 1. Primary School, 182 2,4130 ,83783 1,811 ,145 2. Secondary School 92 2,2228 ,78797 3. High School 78 2,2286 ,82282 4. University 30 2,1889 ,68821 Anxiety of Evaluation 1. Primary School, 182 2,8253 ,78812 2,910 ,034* 1-3 2. Secondary School 92 2,6130 ,75582 3. High School 78 2,5462 ,81219 4. University 30 2,6467 ,87247 Sense of Worthlessness 1. Primary School, 182 2,2088 ,69778 ,556 ,644 2. Secondary School 92 2,1929 ,76258 3. High School 78 2,2564 ,82077 4. University 30 2,3833 ,94967 Total Social Anxiety 1. Primary School, 182 2,4960 ,71103 1,319 ,268 2. Secondary School 92 2,3449 ,69624 3. High School 78 2,3419 ,76037 4. University 30 2,3933 ,76955 Basic Communication Skills 1. Primary School, 382 2,4201 ,72339 1,277 ,282 2. Secondary School 182 3,7330 ,76470 3. High School 92 3,8783 ,86442 4. University 78 3,9000 ,80259 Self-Expression Skill 1. Primary School, 30 3,7000 ,81621 1,598 ,189 2. Secondary School 182 3,7830 ,76546 3. High School 92 3,6250 ,98023 4. University 78 3,8333 ,86290 Effective Listening and Non Verbal Communication Skills 1. Primary School, 30 3,9667 ,83494 ,714 ,544 2. Secondary School 182 3,6722 ,83525 3. High School 92 3,7536 ,78114 4. University 78 3,7265 ,75544 Willingness to Establish Communication Skill 1. Primary School, 30 3,8889 ,78214 ,789 ,500 2. Secondary School 182 3,5604 ,73865 3. High School 92 3,6348 ,80799 4. University 78 3,6872 ,96462 Total Communication Skill 1. Primary School, 30 3,4533 1,01700 ,503 ,681 2. Secondary School 182 3,6919 ,66297 3. High School 92 3,7591 ,75637 4. University 78 3,8051 ,76967 Source: Calculated from primary data * Level of significance at p<0.05 Looking at the table, there is a significant difference between the scores of primary school graduates and high school graduates in the sub-scale of Evaluation anxiety of Social distress. There is no significant difference between social anxiety level and communication skill scores according to mother's educational status. 4. Discussion and Conclusion The aim of this study is to examine the level of Social Anxiety and Communication Skills of the students studying in secondary school. In this study, no statistically significant difference was found between social anxiety and its sub-scales. In the researches conducted by Temizel (2014); Erkan (2002) and Gümüş (2002) it was concluded that social anxiety did not change according to gender. From a literary perspective, it is seen that research findings about the gender that the social distress is seen more are not consistent with each other. While in some studies men's social anxiety levels are different, there is no statistically significant difference in some studies (Leary and Kowalski, 1995; Montgomery, 1995). In terms of social anxiety, it is thought that the absence of any difference between the genders may be due to the following reasons: the students involved in the survey are the students who go to school in the same province, and in this context, having similar social activities, having similar social areas, living in the same cultural environment. In their study with (9th grade) students, Warren et al. (1984) have stated that there is no statistical difference regarding gender. More researches are needed to clearly demonstrate the role of gender on social anxiety. This research is consistent with the findings obtained. In terms of the gender of the students, there was no significant difference between the average scores of total communication skills. Significant difference was found only between male and female students in the effective listening sub-dimension. The score averages of female students have been found higher than that of men. When the literature is examined, there are findings supporting our research (Erözkan, 2007). Meaningful relationship was found in the negative direction between basic communication skills and social avoidance from communication skills and feeling of worthlessness and total social anxiety. This finding means that as the basic communication skills increase, the level of social avoidance, feeling of worthlessness and social anxiety decreases. Findings are suitable for anticipation. It is consistent with the field of literature (Gümüş, 2010; Yıldırım et al., 2011). There is a meaningful relationship in the negative direction between expressing oneself, from communication skills scale sub-dimensions, and social avoidance, anxiety of evaluation, feeling of worthlessness and total social anxiety. This finding implies that as self-expression increases, social avoidance, evaluation anxiety, sense of worthlessness and social anxiety levels decrease. The finding is consistent with the literature (Burger, 2006; Gümüş, 2010). It is thought that those who express themselves comfortably are more likely to be individuals who have high self-esteem, find themselves self-worthy, and think that they will not be evaluated negatively. There is a significant relationship at the high level in the negative direction between active listening contact skills scale sub-dimension and non-verbal communication and social avoidance, sense of worthlessness. This finding means that as the effective listening and nonverbal communication increase, the level of social avoidance and sense of worthlessness decrease. As a consequence, it is in consistency with the field of the literature (Baltacı, 2010; Cakır, 2010). There is a significant relationship at the high level in the negative direction between communication skills scale sub-dimension willingness to communicate and social avoidance. This finding implies that as the willingness to communicate increases, the level of social avoidance decreases. Increase in willingness to communicate, low levels of comfortable social avoidance in communication with other people are expected situations. As a consequence, as communication skills increase, social avoidance, evaluation anxiety, feeling of worthlessness and social anxiety levels are decreasing. A significant difference was found in terms of education levels of the parents in students' social anxiety level and its sub dimensions. It is seen that the level of social anxiety of the students increases as the educational level of the parents decreases. In the studies Gümüş (1997) and Erkan (2002) conducted, they found that social anxiety levels changed according to the educational status of the mother and the father; this finding is supporting our work. A significant difference was found in terms of education levels of the parents in the sub-dimension of the Self-Expression Skill of the students' communication skill. In the communication skills and other sub-dimensions, there was no significant difference was found between the educational levels of the parents. There was no significant difference in social anxiety and communication skill scores in terms of whether or not participants did sports. Also in the study of Cağlayan (2015) there was no difference between the levels of social anxiety of those who do sports and those who do not, which is parallel to our study. 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