Social Anxiety and Cannabis-Related Problems: The Serial Roles of Distress Tolerance and Cannabis Use Motives

Abstract

Background: Individuals with elevated social anxiety are vulnerable to experiencing negative consequences related to cannabis use. One transdiagnostic vulnerability factor that has received little attention in the social anxiety-cannabis problem relation is distress tolerance, which is associated with more cannabis use to manage negative affect broadly (i.e., coping motives) and cannabis-related problems. However, it is unknown whether distress tolerance is related to greater cannabis use to manage social anxiety specifically (i.e., social anxiety motives). Objectives: This study tested whether the relation between social anxiety and cannabis problems occurred via perceived distress tolerance among 309 (77.3% female) undergraduates who endorsed current (past three-month) cannabis use. Results: Social anxiety was negatively associated with distress tolerance and positively associated with cannabis problems, coping, and social anxiety motives. Social anxiety was indirectly (via distress tolerance) related to more cannabis problems and motives to cope with negative affect generally and to cope with social anxiety specifically. Social anxiety was indirectly related to more cannabis problems via the serial effects of distress tolerance and coping and social anxiety motives. Conclusions: Findings suggest that individuals with elevated social anxiety may be vulnerable to using cannabis to manage negative affect (generally and social anxiety specifically) due to low perceived ability to tolerate psychological distress, which may lead to more cannabis problems. Keywords: cannabis; marijuana; distress tolerance; social anxiety; motives; coping motives.

Keywords:

• Cannabis
• marijuana
• distress tolerance
• social anxiety
• motives
• coping motives

Notes

1 To assess whether controlling for the effects of each respective motive resulted in a differential pattern of findings, we entered coping and social anxiety motives into each respective model as a covariate. After controlling for age, sex, past three-month cannabis use frequency, and each respective motive, social anxiety was indirectly related to more cannabis problems via the serial effect of distress tolerance and coping motives, b = 0.002, SE = 0.001, 95% CI [0.000, 0.006], and via the serial effects of distress tolerance and social anxiety motives, b = 0.0003, SE = 0.001, 95% CI [0.000, 0.002].

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Buckner receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program (Grant D40HP33350) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R21AA030071). The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.