Examining the Role of Positive Drinking Consequences On the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Negative Drinking Consequences

Positive drinking consequences are gaining more attention in the college student drinking literature due to their degree of saliency in predicting hazardous drinking. However, the research is limited on the relationship between psychological constructs, such as social anxiety, and positive drinking consequences. The current study explored the moderating role of positive drinking consequences on the relationship between social anxiety and negative drinking consequences in a sample of hazardous drinking college students. A sample of 222 hazardous drinking undergraduate students completed measures of social anxiety and positive and negative drinking consequences. As predicted, social anxiety and positive consequences were positively related to negative consequences. Contrary to our predictions, interaction results revealed that students with more social anxiety reported more negative consequences when they reported fewer rather than more positive consequences. Thus, students with more social anxiety may not obtain the social benefits from drinking, which appears to be contributing to their experience of negative drinking consequences. Briefly, alcohol intervention clinicians should consider how to incorporate discussions of positive drinking consequences for these students to facilitate ways to foster social engagement while minimizing alcohol-related harm