Alcohol and caffeine use by social phobics: an initial inquiry into drinking patterns and behavior

Social phobics are often fearful that their anxiety symptoms will cause them embarrassment and lead to negative evaluation from others. Thus, it was hypothesized that they might attempt to control the intake of substances such as alcohol and caffeine that may affect their anxiety in social situations. The current investigation sought to determine, via a self-report questionnaire, whether the alcohol and caffeine consumption patterns of social phobics differ from those of community controls in terms of typical and greatest weekly quantities and how social phobics differ from controls in alcohol and caffeine use in a variety of socially threatening and nonthreatening situations. Social phobics reported less typical weekly beverage consumption than community subjects. Specifically, social phobics reported less consumption of wine and liqueur than community subjects but did not differ from community subjects in typical weekly consumption of caffeinated beverages. Further, social phobics reported a significantly greater intent to drink alcohol while in social situations involving strangers and significantly less intent to drink caffeinated coffee in meetings than did community subjects. Finally, a number of gender differences were found for both alcohol and caffeine consumption in specific situations, and the implications of these findings are discussed.