Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2019 Apr;43(4):732-740. doi: 10.1111/acer.13966. Epub 2019 Mar 4.
College students with more social anxiety symptoms are particularly vulnerable to problematic alcohol and marijuana use given their susceptibility for elevated anxiety symptoms in social settings combined with the normative nature of substance use. Existing research has established substance use as coping motivated for these students when examining alcohol and marijuana use problems separately. The next step is to determine whether students with more social anxiety who use both substances do so for similar or different reasons. The current study tested a comprehensive (i.e., all variables in the same model) motivational model of alcohol/marijuana use in a sample of college students from 10 universities across the United States who endorsed both past-month alcohol and marijuana use.
College students were recruited through psychology department participant pools and completed an online survey assessing mental health symptoms, substance use motives, and substances use behaviors. Current sample comprised concurrent alcohol/marijuana users (n = 2,034), 29.6% of whom endorsed clinically indicated levels of social anxiety and nearly one-fourth exceeded the cutoff for hazardous drinking (23.2%) and hazardous marijuana use (21.9%).
Across both substances, coping motives significantly mediated the positive relationship between social anxiety symptoms and substance use problems. Unique to alcohol, conformity motives mediated the association between social anxiety symptoms and alcohol-related problems.
Taken together, students with more social anxiety who are focused on anxiety management may use either alcohol or marijuana; however, these students may experience more alcohol-related problems when drinking to fit in with peers.
具有更多社交焦虑症状的大学生在社交场合中更容易出现焦虑症状，加上物质使用的规范性，他们特别容易出现问题性的酒精和大麻使用。现有研究已经确定，当分别检查酒精和大麻使用问题时，这些学生将物质使用作为应对手段。下一步是确定同时使用这两种物质的社交焦虑程度较高的学生是否出于相似或不同的原因。本研究在美国 10 所大学的心理学系参与者群体中招募了一批大学生，对他们进行了一项在线调查，评估心理健康症状、物质使用动机和物质使用行为，以检验酒精/大麻使用的综合（即同一模型中的所有变量）动机模型。
大学生通过心理学系参与者群体招募，并完成了一项在线调查，评估心理健康症状、物质使用动机和物质使用行为。本研究的当前样本由同时使用酒精/大麻的参与者（n=2034）组成，其中 29.6%的人表现出临床显著的社交焦虑症状，近四分之一的人超过了危险饮酒（23.2%）和危险大麻使用（21.9%）的标准。
在两种物质中，应对动机都显著调节了社交焦虑症状与物质使用问题之间的正相关关系。独特的是，在酒精方面，趋同动机调节了社交焦虑症状与与酒精相关问题之间的关联。
综上所述，那些更关注焦虑管理的社交焦虑程度较高的学生可能会同时使用酒精或大麻；然而，当这些学生为了迎合同龄人而饮酒时，他们可能会经历更多与酒精相关的问题。
