title: Early adolescent symptoms of social phobia prospectively predict alcohol use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current study examined whether social phobia (SP) symptoms in early adolescence prospectively predicted alcohol use through middle adolescence in a community sample of youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from an ongoing longitudinal study (N = 277) of mechanisms of HIV-related risk behaviors in youth were used to assess the extent to which SP symptoms in early adolescence (mean [SD] age = 11.00 years [0.81]) would predict alcohol use across five annual assessment waves. Adolescents completed measures of SP symptoms, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use at each wave.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher SP symptoms at baseline predicted higher average odds of alcohol consumption during subsequent waves but did not significantly predict an increase in the odds of alcohol use as a function of time. Within a lagged model, SP symptoms measured at a prior assessment point (1 year earlier) predicted greater odds of drinking alcohol at the following assessment point. Importantly, alcohol use did not significantly predict SP symptoms over time. These results suggest that early SP symptoms are an important risk factor for increased odds of subsequent alcohol use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings highlight that elevated SP symptoms place adolescents at risk for early alcohol use. Early interventions targeting SP symptoms may be crucial for the prevention of problematic alcohol use in early to mid-adolescence. Implications for prevention and treatment approaches are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dahne
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland.
authors.forename: Anne N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Banducci
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Development Lab, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Gretchen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kurdziel
authors.affiliation: Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: MacPherson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D063189:Symptom Assessment