title: An examination of the tension reduction hypothesis: the relationship between anxiety and alcohol in college students.
abstract: The Tension Reduction Theory posits that alcohol is consumed to achieve tension reduction. The drinking patterns of high anxiety college students differed from low anxiety college students. Eighty-one students completed the Trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Khavari Alcohol Test (KAT). Several indices of alcohol use derived from the KAT were used to assess patterns of alcohol use. Five two-way analyses of variance were conducted using gender and anxiety as factors. Hypothesis One predicted that there would be a significant difference in alcohol consumption between high and low anxiety students when a comprehensive measure of alcohol use was used. This hypothesis was supported. Hypothesis Two predicted that frequency alone would not differentiate between anxiety levels; this was also supported. The Third Hypothesis was that volume measures of beer, wine and liquor would differentiate between the high and low anxiety levels; this hypothesis was partially supported--beer volume did differentiate between groups, while wine and liquor volume did not. The final hypothesis was that there would be an interaction between gender and anxiety; this was not supported.
authors.affiliation: University of Akron.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Kalodner
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Delucia
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Ursprung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010556:Personality Tests