Getting the party started--Alone: Solitary predrinking mediates the effect of social anxiety on alcohol-related problems.

Predrinking (or pregaming) is common among undergraduates and has been linked with problem alcohol use. While many students predrink to save money, evidence suggests that some students predrink to cope with social anxiety (SA). Tension reduction and cognitive theories predict that those high in SA may predrink to reduce anticipatory anxiety before attending social events and their predrinking may be done alone rather than in normative social contexts. Available data suggest that, relative to social drinking, solitary drinking elevates risk for alcohol use and related problems. Informed by this evidence, we speculated that context for predrinking may be an important mechanism by which SA-risk for alcohol use unfolds. Specifically, we offered the novel hypothesis that those high in SA would engage frequently in solitary predrinking and this in turn would be associated with elevated alcohol use and related problems. Undergraduate drinkers (N=293; 70% women) completed self-reports of social anxiety, predrinking context (social, solitary), alcohol use, and alcohol-related problems. In partial support of our hypotheses, SA was a positive predictor of solitary predrinking, which in turn predicted elevated alcohol-related problems, but not alcohol use. While not hypothesized, we also found that SA was a negative predictor of social predrinking, which in turn reduced risk for alcohol use and related problems. Our study is the first in the literature to show that solitary predrinking helps explain the well-documented association between SA and alcohol-related problems. These findings may inform etiological models and clinical interventions, suggesting that SA-risk for problem drinking begins even before the party starts.

A critical review of laboratory-based studies examining the relationships of social anxiety and alcohol intake.

Research has revealed inconsistencies regarding the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use. The goal of the current review is to examine lab-based studies that have been conducted in an attempt to help disentangle the social anxiety - alcohol link. Specifically, this review focuses on the most prominent theories present in this area of research, namely, the Tension Reduction Theory, the Stress-Response Dampening Model, the Self-Awareness Model, the Attention Allocation Model, and the Appraisal-Disruption Model. The review then describes the empirical studies that have been conducted to test predictions derived from each of these theories. This is followed by a discussion of some methodological considerations in this area of research, including an examination of participant characteristics, study selection criteria, alcohol administration procedures, the nature of the anxiety-inducing tasks that have been used in this area of research, and the different types of outcome measures that are typically used to measure social anxiety. The review ends with some tentative conclusions and directions for future research, including recommendations to recruit individuals with high levels of trait social anxiety, to closely monitor blood alcohol levels achieved at different time points during the study, to examine more interaction-based social anxiety provoking tasks, and to employ a wider range of outcome measures (e.g., cognitive and behavioural outcomes relevant to social anxiety).

Exploring the effect of alcohol on post-event processing specific to a social event.

Inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use suggest that further research is needed to explore how alcohol affects various components of social anxiety. Post-event processing, or rumination after social events, is an element of cognitive models of social anxiety that is related to increased levels of social anxiety. The goal of the current study was to explore the interrelationships among social anxiety, post-event processing, and alcohol use. A sample of 208 university students completed online questionnaires to assess their levels of trait social anxiety and trait depression as well as their alcohol consumption at a specific social event. Participants then completed questionnaires to assess levels of post-event processing specific to the social event they attended. Results revealed that the amount of alcohol individuals consumed at the event predicted increased levels of post-event processing above and beyond levels of trait social anxiety and depression. As such, drinking may lead to increased post-event processing in student samples.

A further investigation of the relations of anxiety sensitivity to smoking motives.

Prior research has shown that anxiety sensitivity (AS) is associated with smoking to reduce negative affect (e.g., [Comeau, N., Stewart, S.H., & Loba, P., (2001). The relations of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity and sensation seeking to adolescents' motivations for alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Addictive Behaviors, 26, 803-825.]). However, given limitations in the measurement of smoking motives in previous AS studies, it has yet to be definitively established that AS is specifically related to negative reinforcement smoking motives. Moreover, the overall AS construct is comprised of three lower-order components: physical, psychological, and social concerns (e.g., [Stewart, S.H., Taylor, S., & Baker, J.M., (1997). Gender differences in dimensions of anxiety sensitivity. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 179-200.]). Previous investigations generally have not examined the relative contributions of each of these three AS components to smoking for negative reinforcement motives. The present study attempted to address each of these gaps in the literature. A sample of 119 smokers attending a tobacco intervention program (see [Mullane, J.C., Stewart, S.H., Rhyno, E., Steeves, D., Watt, M., & Eisner, A., (2008). Anxiety sensitivity and difficulties with smoking cessation. In A.M. Columbus (Ed.), Advances in Psychological Research (vol. 54A, pp. 141-155). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.]) completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; [Peterson, R.A., & Reiss, S., (1992). The Anxiety Sensitivity Index manual (2nd ed.). Worthington, OH: International Diagnostic Services.]) and the Reasons For Smoking scale (RFS; [Ikard, F.F., Green, D.E., & Horn, D., (1969). A scale to differentiate between types of smoking as related to the management of affect. International Journal of the Addictions, 4, 649-659.]) at pre-treatment. In a principal components analysis (PCA) of the RFS items, stringent parallel analysis supported a two-factor solution (negative and positive reinforcement smoking motives) as opposed to the intended six factors ([Ikard, F.F., Green, D.E., & Horn, D., (1969). A scale to differentiate between types of smoking as related to the management of affect. International Journal of the Addictions, 4, 649-659.]). ASI total scores were significantly positively correlated with both RFS factors in bivariate correlational analyses. In partial correlations, the relation between the ASI and the RFS negative reinforcement factor remained significant when controlling for RFS positive reinforcement smoking motives, but the correlation of ASI with RFS positive reinforcement motives was not significant after controlling for RFS negative reinforcement motives. At the level of AS components, AS psychological concerns were related to both negative and positive reinforcement motives, while AS physical concerns were more strongly related to negative reinforcement motives. Implications for designing targeted tobacco interventions for high AS smokers are discussed.