The effects of social anxiety on alcohol and cigarette use across adolescence: Results from a longitudinal twin study in Finland.
Conflicting reports exist on the direction of the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and alcohol/cigarette use (AU/CU) and alcohol/nicotine dependence (AD/ND), with both positive and negative associations reported. A prospective, longitudinal sample of Finnish twins (n = 1,906) was used to test potential explanations for these discrepancies. Specifically, this study used peer, parent, and teacher ratings of SA, and a clinical interview screening item for social anxiety disorder (SAD-Sc) to examine associations between SA and AU/CU and AD/ND from early adolescence into young adulthood. Peer-rated SA was negatively associated with AU, CU, and AD from age 14 through age 22, implying a protective effect (β = -0.01 to -.03). Teacher- and parent-rated SA associations were in the same directions but weaker or nonsignificant, indicating that aspects of SA that are recognizable by peers may be most relevant to AU/CU. Self-reported SAD-Sc was also negatively associated with AU, but positively associated with AD symptoms in young adulthood (β = 0.38). Our findings partially support the existence of different associations between SA and AU versus AD, but only in the context of SAD-Sc rather than trait SA. Neither trait SA nor SAD-Sc significantly predicted ND symptoms, although SAD-Sc was associated with both cigarette abstinence and daily smoking. These findings suggest that adolescent SA is modestly associated with lower AU/CU, although there may be some individuals with more severe SA who develop alcohol problems later in life. There was little evidence of a common underlying liability contributing to both SA and alcohol/cigarette use. (PsycINFO Database Record
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Jeanne E
JE
Savage
Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, University of Helsinki.
Jaakko
J
Kaprio
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki.
Tellervo
T
Korhonen
Department of Psychology, University of Jyvaskyla.
Lea
L
Pulkkinen
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University-Bloomington.
Richard J
RJ
Rose
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Brad
B
Verhulst
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Danielle M
DM
Dick
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D057566:Self Report; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult