Ansiedad social consumo riesgoso de alcohol en adolescentes mexicanos

Abstract

The study of social phobia is gradually increasing, arguing association between social phobia and multiple measures of dysfunction. After institutional approval, and in accordance with the ethical principles required for social research, socio-demographic data, measurements of social anxiety and alcohol consumption pattern, were obtained from 3164 Mexican adolescents volunteers (men and women) ages 12-18 years ($\overline{x}=14.7,SD1.7$), in different school schedule (morning or afternoon) and with record of their extracurricular activities” (to participate or not in sports, arts and been involved or not in a dating relationship). The participants were divided into two groups, according to the score on the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents: high (n = 524) ($\overline{x}=44.2,SD=5.7$), and low (n = 2640)($\overline{x}=25.9,SD=5.8$), degree of social anxiety. Also, their levels of alcohol consumption were compared. The results of the study showed that: In contrast to the suggested by the literature in adults, the pattern of alcohol consumption in adolescents of low social anxiety group and the high social anxiety group, did not presented statistically significant differences (X² = 1.201, gl = 2, p = .361). A likely explanation of these reported differences in drinking among socially anxious and not socially anxious adults, is that they occur only in certain variants of social phobia, or maybe, it requires other mediating variables between social phobia and alcohol abuse.