Role of Mood and Implicit Cognition in the Social Anxiety-Problematic Drinking Risk Pathway

The relation between Social Anxiety (SA) and problematic drinking has received mixed empirical support. Theory suggests implicit, automatically activated, alcohol cognitions are central to drinking risk. In the context of SA, the cognitions evoked in response to an anxious mood are relevant. The SA-alcohol use literature to date has not examined implicit cognition. Moreover, the influence of mood on drinking has been explored using performance-based mood manipulations, which may inhibit alcohol use for fear of impairing performance. The present study aimed to develop an ecologically valid socially-relevant mood manipulation and examine its effects on implicit alcohol cognitions and drinking outcomes. It was hypothesized that SA would influence the automatic activation of tension reduction alcohol cognitions and drinking behaviour, only for those in an anxious mood. Undergraduates (N = 132; 86% women) completed self-reports of SA and alcohol use/problems, were randomly assigned to an anxious or control mood condition, completed an implicit task, and self-reported urge to drink. Results revealed that mood moderated the effect of SA on urge to drink. When in an anxious mood, those high in SA reported an elevated urge to drink for negative and positive reinforcement purposes. There was little support for the role of implicit alcohol cognition. The activation of implicit cognition in the lab was not associated with drinking status. While the role of implicit cognition in the SA-drinking risk pathway did not receive much support, the current study incorporated a socially-relevant lab-based mood manipulation that was effective in eliciting the urge to drink