Fear of positive evaluation and alcohol use problems among college students: the unique impact of drinking motives

Abstract

Background and Objectives There is strong empirical support that individuals with elevated social anxiety are at risk for alcohol-related impairment. Because social anxiety is a multi-faceted construct, it is important to consider which specific facets contribute to alcohol problem vulnerability. For example, although social anxiety has traditionally been conceptualized as a fear of negative evaluation (FNE), emerging data suggest that fear of positive evaluation (FPE) is also an important factor in pathological social anxiety. The current manuscript reports novel findings regarding FPE, alcohol use motives, and reported alcohol use problems. Design and Methods Participants included undergraduates from two American universities (n = 351) who completed a battery of measures assessing fears of evaluation, drinking motives, and alcohol usage related problems. Results FPE significantly predicted alcohol use problems, above and beyond FNE. Also, coping and conformity motives for drinking, but not social or enhancement motives, each uniquely mediated the relationship between FPE and alcohol use problems. Conclusions FPE may be an important cognitive-affective vulnerability factor. With additional clinical research, FPE could serve as a meaningful therapeutic target in interventions designed to decrease problem drinking among highly socially anxious patients.

Malaise with praise: A narrative review of 10 years of research on the concept of Fear of Positive Evaluation in social anxiety

“…Regarding FPE, substance use might come into play to ameliorate the negative effect that arises in social situations as a consequence of fears of positive evaluation. Another possibility was suggested by Howell, Buckner, and Weeks (): collective alcohol use can reduce dominance behavior within groups, thereby decreasing FPE‐related fears. In fact, although FPE was not related to typical alcohol consumption, it was strongly associated with drinking‐related problems in undergraduate students.…”

Moderation effect of emotion regulation on the relationship between social anxiety, drinking motives and alcohol related problems among university students*

“…In previous research on alcohol related problems in SAD, individuals with elevated social anxiety drink to cope with their negative emotions (coping motives) or to conform as a means of getting along with others and ensure that they are not isolated (conformity motives) [10][11][12]. Moreover, accumulating evidence suggests that certain SAD symptoms, such as social anxiety or fear of evaluation, with the mediation of coping and conformity motives, are associated with drinking situations and alcohol related problems [13][14][15][16]. Considering that drinking with coping and conformity motives differs from socially acceptable drinking and is strongly related to alcohol related problems, even when drinking quantity is controlled [17], it is not surprising that people with SAD become dependent on it to regulate their symptoms and therefore experience more alcohol related problems, even if they drink a small amount of alcohol [10].…”

Why Students Drink: Testing a Conceptual Model of How Social Anxiety and Drinking Motives Influence Drinking

“…In contrast, coping and conformity motives mediated the links between social anxiety and alcohol-related problems, and coping motives (but not conformity motives) mediated the links between social anxiety and heavy drinking. Similar to previous studies, coping and conformity motives appear to be central to alcohol-related problems for socially anxious students, and coping motives appear to be important for heavy drinking (Howell et al, 2016;Lewis et al, 2008).…”