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Drinking to cope in socially anxious individuals: a controlled study
Suzanne E Thomas1, Carrie L Randall, Maureen H Carrigan
1Charleston Alcohol Research Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 29425, USA. thomass@musc.edu
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research
|December 24, 2003
Summary
Individuals with high social anxiety use alcohol to manage social fears, finding it moderately effective for anxiety relief. This supports the self-medication hypothesis regarding social discomfort.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- High trait anxiety is linked to increased alcoholism rates.
- The self-medication hypothesis suggests alcohol reduces anxiety, increasing alcoholism risk.
- Few studies systematically examine alcohol use for anxiety with control groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if individuals with high social anxiety use alcohol to cope with social fears.
- To compare alcohol coping strategies in socially anxious individuals versus controls.
- To assess the perceived effectiveness of alcohol in reducing social anxiety.
Main Methods:
- Study included 23 individuals with high social anxiety and 23 matched controls.
- Demographics and alcohol use were similar between groups.
- Participants reported alcohol use for coping, avoidance, and anxiety relief in social situations.
Main Results:
- Socially anxious individuals were more likely to use alcohol to ease social discomfort.
- They also reported avoiding social situations if alcohol was unavailable.
- Greater anxiety relief from alcohol was reported by the socially anxious group.
Conclusions:
- Individuals with high social anxiety deliberately use alcohol to cope with social fears.
- Alcohol provides moderate anxiety reduction, enabling social situation endurance.
- Findings support the self-medication hypothesis's premise of alcohol reducing social discomfort in this population.