More than half of college students participate in high risk drinking events such as prepartying (drinking alcohol before going to an intended event) and playing drinking games. These behaviors are correlated with greater alcohol consumption and more alcohol-related negative consequences. In addition, many college students preparty and play drinking games during the same drinking occasion which can further increase risk of adverse events. Due to the risk of adverse effects, understanding factors and traits that encourage college students to preparty and play drinking games is crucial. Social anxiety (SA) may be one potential reason why students engage in these drinking behaviors to manage fears of negative evaluation or to promote social facilitation. This study examines the relationship between SA symptoms and hazardous drinking practices among college students.
The study’s sample consisted of 981 college students from two West-coast universities. Participants completed a survey that assessed number of drinks consumed during the entirety of their most recent preparty event, if they played drinking games while prepartying, and drinking consequences. The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale was used to measure anxiety related to different social situations. Lastly, participants’ preparty motives (interpersonal enhancement, intimate pursuit, barriers to consumption, and situational control) were assessed. Data was analyzed using a path analysis.
Results of the data analysis showed that 33.4% of participants reported playing drinking games during their most recent preparty experience. Participants reported consuming 7.4 drinks and experiencing 4.3 consequences on average during their last preparty occasion. After controlling for gender, age, and campus, greater SA was not indirectly related to more negative consequences via the sequential effect of higher preparty motives, greater likelihood of drinking game participation, and greater alcohol consumption during last drinking occasion. SA was indirectly associated with more negative consequences during the preparty occasion through greater interpersonal enhancement and intimate pursuit preparty motives.
Takeaway: Preparty motives and social anxiety may impact alcohol-related behaviors and resulting negative consequences.