This study will involve the development and testing of a model examining the role of social anxiety in drinking levels and alcohol-related problems in referred and non-referred college students. College students may be at risk for developing alcohol use disorders. Young adults aged 18-24 show the highest rates of alcohol use and have the greatest percentage of problem drinkers. Problematic alcohol use in college students is a significant public health concern. Further, previous research has found a relationship between social anxiety disorder and problematic alcohol use. It may be that college students with symptoms of social anxiety may be particularly vulnerable to developing alcohol problems. However, inconsistencies in the alcohol, social anxiety, and alcohol expectancies relationships warrant further study including positive and negative expectancies and valuations of expectancies. The model will include alcohol expectancies and valuations, living environment, peer influence, academic and religious involvement, and gender as these are variables that have been correlated to alcohol use in past research and seem to be interrelated. There is a lack of comprehensive models of college student problematic alcohol use and social anxiety, and thus this research would close a gap in existing alcohol literature. The model will be based on clinical data from college students who participate in a motivational interviewing intervention called Alcohol Skills Training Program and a non-referral group of college students who have not participated in ASTP.
| Ham, Lindsay S; Bonin, Michel; Hope, Debra A (2007) The role of drinking motives in social anxiety and alcohol use. J Anxiety Disord 21:991-1003 |
| Ham, Lindsay S; Hope, Debra A (2005) Incorporating social anxiety into a model of college student problematic drinking. Addict Behav 30:127-50 |
