The relationship between alcohol expectancies and social anxiety

The belief that alcohol alleviates social anxiety and acts as a social lubricant has long been recognized anecdotally, but only recently has this topic been the focus of systematic research. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between alcohol expectancies and social anxiety. To explore this, forty social phobics and two hundred and forty-seven college undergraduates were given the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire, social anxiety measures, and alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence questionnaires. AEQ alcohol expectancy scale scores were calculated for each group. Next, the social anxiety measures were correlated with the domain of Increased Social Assertiveness (scale 4) of the AEQ. In separate analyses, AEQ scale scores were compared across group, level of alcohol consumption, gender, and social phobia subtype. The relative order of the AEQ scales was found to be the same for both groups (i.e., Global Positive Changes (scale 1), Increased Social Assertiveness (scale 4), Physical and Social Pleasure (scale 3), Relaxation and Tension Reduction (scale 5), Arousal and Power (scale 6), and Enhanced Sexual Performance (scale 2)). Social anxiety was not found to be correlated with Increased Social Assertiveness (scale 4) for either anxious group, but was moderately correlated with this expectancy domain for the entire college sample. Analyses revealed that for the social phobics, the domain of Increased Social Assertiveness (scale 4) was best predicted by Global Positive Changes (scale 1), the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), or quantity of alcohol consumption, whereas for the socially anxious college group, Increased Social Assertiveness (scale 4) was predicted by Relaxation and Tension Reduction (scale 5), Arousal and Power (scale 6), or degree of alcohol dependence. The social phobics\u27 alcohol expectancies were found to be significantly lower than those of the college sample. Several AEQ scales were found to be positively correlated with alcohol consumption. Finally, as predicted, there were no gender or social phobia subtype differences in strength of AEQ alcohol expectancies. The limitations of the study are described and the results are discussed in terms of future research