Cannabis Use Behaviors and Social Anxiety: The Roles of Perceived Descriptive and Injunctive Social Norms

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: Individuals with greater social anxiety are particularly vulnerable to cannabis-related impairment. Descriptive norms (beliefs about others' use) and injunctive norms (beliefs regarding others' approval of risky use) may be particularly relevant to cannabis-related behaviors among socially anxious persons if they use cannabis for fear of evaluation for deviating from what they believe to be normative behaviors. Yet, little research has examined the impact of these social norms on the relationships between social anxiety and cannabis use behaviors. Method: The current study investigated whether the relationships of social anxiety to cannabis use and use-related problems varied as a function of social norms. The sample comprised 230 (63.0% female) current cannabis-using undergraduates. Results: Injunctive norms (regarding parents, not friends) moderated the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis-related problem severity. Post hoc probing indicated that among participants with higher (but not lower) social anxiety, those with greater norm endorsement reported the most severe impairment. Injunctive norms (parents) also moderated the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis use frequency such that those with higher social anxiety and lower norm endorsement used cannabis less frequently. Descriptive norms did not moderate the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis use frequency. Conclusions: Socially anxious cannabis users appear to be especially infl uenced by beliefs regarding parents' approval of risky cannabis use. Results underscore the importance of considering reference groups and the specifi c types of norms in understanding factors related to cannabis use behaviors among this vulnerable population. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 74-82, 2014)

Cannabis-Related Problems and Social Anxiety: The Mediational Role of Post-Event Processing

“…First, the current study replicated a growing body of work that has found greater social anxiety to be related to greater cannabis-related impairment (e.g., Agosti et al, 2002; Buckner, Heimberg, et al, 2012; Buckner et al, 2008; Stinson et al, 2006), despite not being related to greater typical cannabis use (e.g., Buckner et al, 2007; Ecker & Buckner, 2014; Ecker et al, 2014). The current study extended that work by finding that tendency to engage in PEP was positively associated with cannabis-related problem severity, but not cannabis use frequency, and that PEP mediated the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis-related problem severity.…”

“…The SIAS has demonstrated construct and discriminant validity (Mattick & Clarke, 1998), as well as test-retest reliability across clinical, community, and student samples (Mattick & Clarke, 1998; Osman, Gutierrez, Barrios, Kopper, & Chiros, 1998). It has also demonstrated good internal consistency among undergraduate cannabis users (e.g., Ecker & Buckner, 2014) and in the current study (α = 0.89).…”

“…Despite the clear links between elevated social anxiety and cannabis-related impairment, the majority of work has shown social anxiety to be unrelated to cannabis use frequency (e.g., Buckner, Bonn-Miller, Zvolensky, & Schmidt, 2007; Buckner et al, 2010; Buckner et al, 2008; Ecker & Buckner, 2014; Ecker, Richter, & Buckner, 2014). Accumulating evidence suggests that greater social anxiety is associated with greater more cannabis-related problems despite not also being related to greater cannabis use frequency (e.g., Buckner et al, 2007; Buckner & Schmidt, 2009; Ecker & Buckner, 2014; Ecker et al, 2014; Marmorstein et al, 2010).…”

“…Accumulating evidence suggests that greater social anxiety is associated with greater more cannabis-related problems despite not also being related to greater cannabis use frequency (e.g., Buckner et al, 2007; Buckner & Schmidt, 2009; Ecker & Buckner, 2014; Ecker et al, 2014; Marmorstein et al, 2010). Socially anxious individuals appear to be at increased risk for experiencing cannabis-related problems despite not using cannabis more frequently than non-socially anxious individuals, suggesting that something about the way they use may place them at risk for problems.…”

Cannabis-related impairment: The impacts of social anxiety and misconceptions of friends' cannabis-related problems

“…Our findings add to a growing body of work indicating that individuals with social anxiety experience more cannabis-related problems (e.g., Buckner, Heimberg, et al, 2012; Ecker & Buckner, 2014). The current study extended this work by determining that among those who believe their friend experiences more problems, those with greater social anxiety endorsed the most cannabis-related problems.…”