Social Anxiety And Alcohol Use

Social anxiety is frequently associated with problematic alcohol use. It is also correlated with increased drinking in the following high-risk situations such as social pressure, unpleasant emotions or conflict with others. The use of alcohol to enhance positive experiences or in response to negative situations may contribute to the risk of alcohol-related problems amid those with social anxiety.

Higher social fears are linked to elevated risk for heavy consumption of alcohol and alcohol abuse. Individuals who experience greater social anxiety tend to consume more alcohol prior to anxiety-triggering situations. This suggests that socially anxious people may use alcohol as a mean of coping with anxiety in social situations (Buckner, 2006).

Regardless of the high percentage of alcohol use disorder (AUD) between socially anxious individuals, evidence points out that some of them consume alcohol less frequently than people experiencing lower levels of social anxiety. Therefore, social anxiety alone does not guarantee a heightened risk for problematic drinking. It rather suggests that some people with social anxiety present a greater risk of problematic drinking, while others may be shielded from problematic alcohol use, indicating that other risk factors play substantial causal roles in this instance.

Expectations about the effects of alcohol use act as a key predictor of consumption of alcohol. Appropriately, it has been suggested that some socially anxious people embrace expectations regarding alcohol that either increase or decrease their risk of alcohol abuse (these expectations may include tension reduction or social assertiveness). 

Drinking Motives And Drinking Expectancies

Drinking motives are considered to be more direct predictors of drinking behaviours that drinking expectancies, since expectancies reflect anticipated consequences of alcohol use, while motives are reasons why a person uses alcohol. There are three main motives that have been determined: coping, social and enhancement motives. Coping-motivated alcohol use is associated with drinking to cope with negative emotions. Socially-motivated drinking involves drinking to enjoy social gatherings. Enhancement-motivated alcohol use involves drinking to enhance positive emotions or experiences. These motives portray different patterns of drinking behaviours and also related to different problems. Coping-motivated drinkers are at risk of alcohol abuse, alcohol-related problems and impairment of social functioning. Enhancement drinking is linked to severe alcohol use and heightened frequency of intoxication. At the same time, social motives are associated with more normative alcohol use.

Is High Level Of Social Anxiety Linked To High Risk Drinking?

There are reasons to believe that hight level of social anxiety could be associated with high-risk drinking. There is evidence (Buckner, 2006) that some socially anxious people may immerse in coping-motivated drinking to self-medicate symptoms of their anxiety. Social anxiety has been associated with low positive affect (a predisposition to experience positive emotions and interact with others in a positive manner). Therefore, individuals with social anxiety may use alcohol to enhance positive affect. 

In relation to drinking motives, people with high levels of social anxiety may be vulnerable to alcohol abuse in situations where alcohol may be viewed by them as an effective coping strategy.

Social anxiety significantly correspons with drinking in situations that involve conflicts with others or unpleasant situations. This indicates that people with social anxiety tend to use alcohol in an attempt to regulate negative emotions. Social anxiety is also associated with alcohol use in situations that involve social pressure to drink. In these situations, social pressure may bring increased fear of negative judgment by other alcohol users. Hence, individuals with social anxiety may use it to prevent negative evaluation from peers in situations where alcohol is present.

Source:

Buckner, E. (2006). Social Anxiety and Problematic Alcohol Consumption: The Mediating Role of Drinking Motives and Situations. Behaviour Therapy, 37(4), 381–391.