INTRODUCTION

1. Differences in Alcohol Expectancies and Problems Between Worriers and Nonworriers Michael M. Knepp, Chad L. Stephens, Sheri L. Towe, Chris S. Immel, Ryoichi J.P. Noguchi, Jared A. Rowland, & David W. Harison INTRODUCTION RESULTS RESULTS Trait Worry and Temperament • Worry involves a predominance of verbal thought whose function appears to be the cognitive avoidance of threat (Borkovec et al., 1998). When taken to an extreme, this avoidance involves chronic negative apprehension. • Although there have been numerous studies relating anxiety disorder comorbidity with alcohol abuse (e.g.,, Low et al., 2008) or dependence (e.g., Degenhardt, Hall, & Lynskey, 2001) in clinical populations, less is known about nonclinical or community samples. • Comeau, Stwardt, and Loba (2001) reported that individuals high in trait anxiety had more conformity motives than low anxiety individuals, suggesting that anxiety or worry could be associated with higher levels of alcohol use in response to social pressures. • This study’s goal was to examine why high trait worriers drink and how they evaluate their problems with alcohol. • With regard to scores on the CEOA, High worriers when compared with low worriers had higher: • cognitive/behavioral impairment expectancies • (F (1, 354) = 14.24, p < .001) • self perception expectancies • (F(1, 354) = 19.14, p <.001) • cognitive /behavioral impairment desirability • (F(1, 354) = 5.99, p < .02) • A trend towards significance was found with high worriers reporting higher sociability expectancies of alcohol. • (F(1, 354) = 3.60, p < .06) • High worriers reported significantly more problems with alcohol as scored by the RAPI. • (F (1, 355) = 13.88, p < .001) • There were three findings related to diagnosis on the PHQ: • Individuals with possible panic diagnosis reported more problems with alcohol. • (F(1, 686) = 16.86, p < .001). • Individuals with possible other anxiety diagnosis scored significantly higher on the RAPI than those with no potential diagnosis. • (F(1, 686) = 5.16, p < .05) • High worriers to be more likely to have a possible alcohol abuse diagnosis on the PHQ than nonworriers • (χ2 (1, N = 357) = 3.18, p < .075). Trait Worry and Health Outcomes METHOD • Seven Hundred Eight-Five students completed online questionnaires as part of the STATE Project (subjects failing validity checks were screened out). • Undergraduates ranged form ages 18-24. The sample included male and females with a diverse sampling of ethnicity. • The questionnaires pertained to substance abuse, temperament, anxiety, worry, trauma, exercise and emotion regulation. • The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was used to measure trait worry. The PSWQ is a commonly used and psychometrically sound measure of the symptoms of pathological worry (Molina & Borkovec, 1994). • Alcohol related and health questionnaires included: • An alcohol problems index from the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) (White & Labouvie, 1989) • Alcohol Outcome Expectancies were measured using the Comprehensive Effects of Alcohol Scale (CEOA; Fromme, Stroot, & Kaplan, 1993) • Possible diagnoses of panic disorder, other anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse were measured via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ; Spitzer, Kreonke, & Williams, 1998). Trait Worry and Inhibition CONCLUSIONS • High worriers report more problems with alcohol than nonworriers • However, is this because high worriers have more problems with alcohol or are they more cognizant of things they believe might be problems. • High worriers both expect and desire alcohol to impair them cognitively and behaviorally • Mixed with the self-perception and sociability expectancies, one can hypothesize that high worriers may over-drink on purpose with the hope that significant impairment will lead to better social interactions. Trait Worry and Heart Rate Correspondence to: Kneppy@vt.edu Presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA, May 2009