Use of laboratory and diary methods to clarify the link between social anxiety and risk for university student problematic drinking

More than one-third of university students in Canada drink at harmful levels. This behaviour is a major public health concern because of the costs to individuals and society, such as unplanned sex when drinking and drunk driving accidents. The development of effective prevention programs need to be based on an understanding of why students drink so heavily. Despite the typical image of a "party animal", students who are socially anxious and experience extreme discomfort in social situations may also be at risk for heavy drinking. At university, alcohol use often occurs at social events, like parties, which cause great distress for some students. As a way to tolerate these difficult social situations, socially anxious students may be inclined to drink heavily, since alcohol has beneficial tension relief effects. Conversely, social anxiety could protect students against heavy drinking because students may worry that they will embarrass themselves if they are intoxicated. In light of inconsistent findings about the association between social anxiety and alcohol use, the proposed research aims to determine the role of social anxiety as a risk factor for problem drinking in university students. Factors that affect social anxiety and lead to attitudes (alcohol has positive effects) and motives (alcohol helps me cope) that support drinking will be evaluated. Two studies are proposed. First, in a realistic 'bar-lab' setting, students' moods will be modified and real-time effects on alcohol attitudes will be examined. Second, students will use cell phones to report real-time information while drinking, including motives for drinking. This research will help clarify the mixed findings in the literature. The findings will sustain key stakeholders on campus to better develop comprehensive university prevention programs/campaigns. Further, this work may have important clinical implications by identifying specific targets (e.g., attitudes and motives) for clinical intervention.