College Student Alcohol Use: Understanding the Role of Alcohol Expectancies, Social Anxiety, Social Connectedness, and Need to Belong

Abstract

Objective College students consume more alcohol and engage in binge drinking more frequently than their non-college attending peers, and prevalence of alcohol-related consequences (e.g., drinking and driving; taking avoidable risks) has not decreased proportionally with decreases in consumption. Social anxiety and alcohol expectancies, or beliefs about the effects of alcohol, have been found to be significantly related to alcohol use and account for significant variance in alcohol use and related consequences. Few studies, however, have examined how other social variables such as need to belong and social connectedness may fit into existing models of increased and risky alcohol use. Methods: Students at a large state university (n = 1,278) completed an online survey measuring alcohol expectancies, need to belong, social anxiety, and social connectedness. Mean age of participants was 19.65 years, and 59.5% self-identified as female, 39.8% male, and 0.7% identified as transgender. Structural equation modeling supported hypothesized relationships between need to belong, social anxiety, social connectedness, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol use, a mean centered variable that included binge drinking, drinking frequency, and amount of consumption. Results: Positive alcohol expectancies related to tension reduction, sociability, and sexuality, were positively related to drinking, such that increased alcohol expectancies were associated with increased drinking. Alcohol expectancies mediated the relationship between need to belong and increased alcohol use, as well as social connectedness and increased alcohol use. Similarly, social anxiety also mediated these relationships. No direct relationships were found between need to belong or social connectedness and alcohol use, suggesting previous research exploring these relationships may have excluded control variables (e.g., biological sex, race/ethnicity) that better explain the impact of need to belong and social connectedness on alcohol use. Conclusion: Prevention and intervention efforts might be more effective in reducing alcohol use if social factors are more broadly targeted.