(PS1-31) To Use or Not to Use: Social Anxiety, Gender, and Perceptions of Protective Behavioral Strategies among Risky College Drinkers

Abstract Text: Alcohol misuse is an ongoing public concern. College students are at a greater risk of experiencing alcohol-related negative consequences, given the prevalence of heavy drinking in campus settings. College students who are socially anxious can be more susceptible to the adverse effects of alcohol because they are more inclined to engage in problematic alcohol use to lessen their distress in college social settings. Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are cognitive-behavioral strategies (e.g., avoiding pregaming, having a designated driver, alternating between alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks) that can be used to reduce drinking and alcohol-related harm. However, some studies have shown that PBS are underused among people with elevated social anxiety (e.g., Terlecki et al., 2020; Villarosa-Hurlocker et al., 2018). Students with elevated social anxiety may perceive PBS to be less useful. Additionally, women tend to use PBS more than men, but the association between gender and the perceived utility of PBS has not yet been explored. Thus, we extended previous work examining social anxiety and PBS use by examining the effect of social anxiety on the perceived utility of PBS and the moderating effect of gender on this association. For this purpose, 1040 (694 women) undergraduates who met the cutoff for social anxiety disorder (SA group: SIAS≥43; n=157) and low social anxiety symptoms (non-SA group: SIAS < 34; n=883) were drawn from a larger multisite (n=5) sample of 18-25-year-old risky drinkers (i.e., past-month drinking gamers). Participants completed an online survey measuring social anxiety, PBS use (PBSScale-20), and the perceived utility of each PBS. We conducted 2 (SA group/non-SA group)  2 (women/men) ANOVAs with PBS use or utility total scores as the dependent variable. Women reported using PBS more often than men, F(1,1036)=29.28, p<.001. PBS use did not differ by SA group F(1,1036)=2.042, p=.153, and gender did not moderate the association between SA group on PBS use frequency, F(1,1036)=0.01, p=.938. Regarding the perceived utility of PBS, gender moderated the association between SA group and PBS utility, F(1,1036)=4.47, p=.035, such that socially anxious women perceived these strategies as more effective than non-anxious women (p=.015), while no difference in PBS utility was found among men (p=.270). Women also perceived PBS as more effective than did men, regardless of SA group, F(1,1036)=40.98, p<.001. Findings suggest that being a socially anxious woman may be associated with enhanced positive perceptions of using harm reduction strategies when drinking alcohol. Given the increased risks women face when drinking alcohol due to metabolic (e.g., lower alcohol dehydrogenase activity; smaller body water volume) and interpersonal harm risks (e.g., sexual victimization) compared to men, it is possible that college women are more likely to use PBS to mitigate these risks. Socially anxious college women may also have greater concerns about drinking risks related to fears of doing/saying something embarrassing and are then likely to perceive PBS as especially helpful to prevent them. The present findings suggest that there is clinical utility in PBS interventions designed to enhance its use among SA and non-SA college students.