Social anxiety and alcohol use: evaluation of the moderating and mediating effects of alcohol expectancies

Previous work suggests that social anxiety is inconsistently related to alcohol use. To further explore this relationship, alcohol outcome expectancies were evaluated as potential moderator and mediators in a large sample (N=284) of college undergraduates. The expectancy variables included positive and negative alcohol outcome expectancies as well as expectancies specific to social facilitation. Consistent with a self-presentation model of shyness, social anxiety was related to decreased drinking. Interestingly, social anxiety was associated with increased positive as well as increased negative expectancies. There was not support for moderator or mediator effects. Consistent with prior work, social facilitation expectancies appear to operate as a suppressor variable in the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol use.