Liquid courage or liquid fear: alcohol intoxication and anxiety facilitate physical aggression.

Participants were 138 male social drinkers between 18 and 30 years of age from a university community in the southeastern United States in 2000. Trait and state anxiety was measured using the Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Facial Action Coding System, respectively. Participants consumed an alcoholic or nonalcoholic control beverage and completed a shock-based aggression task. Regression analysis indicated that alcohol-facilitated elevations in anxiety mediated the relation between alcohol consumption and aggression and that trait anxiety and physical provocation moderated this effect. Implications and limitations of this study are noted and future research directions are suggested.