ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8494-9808

Keywords

social anxiety, social alcohol expectancies, protective behavioral strategies, college drinking, alcohol use, college students

Subject Categories

Clinical Psychology | Counseling Psychology | Psychology

Abstract

College students with elevated social anxiety are at heightened risk for alcohol-related consequences despite not consistently reporting greater alcohol use. One potential explanation for this pattern is lower engagement in protective behavioral strategies (PBS). Social alcohol expectancies are relevant to PBS use because students with elevated social anxiety often expect alcohol to reduce social discomfort or facilitate social interaction, and these beliefs may correspond with lower use of strategies that constrain the pace or amount of drinking. The present study examined whether positive and negative social alcohol expectancies were intermediate variables in associations between social anxiety and three PBS domains: Manner-of-Drinking (MOD), Stopping/Limiting Drinking (SLD), and Serious Harm Reduction (SHR). Participants were 608 undergraduate students who endorsed past-month alcohol use and completed self-report measures of social anxiety, social alcohol expectancies, and PBS. A cross-sectional path analysis examined direct and indirect associations among study variables. Social anxiety was positively associated with both positive and negative social alcohol expectancies. Positive social alcohol expectancies were negatively associated with MOD and SLD, and significant negative indirect associations emerged from social anxiety to both domains through positive expectancies. In exploratory analyses, negative social alcohol expectancies were negatively associated with SHR, and the indirect association from social anxiety to SHR through negative expectancies was significant. Direct associations between social anxiety and all three PBS domains were nonsignificant in the full model. Findings suggest that social alcohol expectancies may help clarify associations between social anxiety and lower engagement in specific PBS.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Fall

Committee Chair

Newins, Amie

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Department of Psychology

Format

PDF

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

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