Is Social Anxiety Associated With Cannabis Use? The Role of Cannabis Use Effect Expectancies in Middle Adolescence

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the mediating/moderating role of cannabis use expectancies in/on the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and cannabis use in adolescence. Linear/logistic regressions and mediation/moderation analyses were performed in a sample of 1,343 Belgian teenagers (15 to 16 years old). SA was negatively related to lifetime cannabis use. Relaxation, social facilitation, and high-order positive expectancies moderated the relation between SA and lifetime cannabis use, whereas negative behavioral and high-order negative expectancies mediated the link. The potential protective nature of SA on lifetime cannabis use and the diverging involvement of negative and positive expectancies are discussed. Results support the importance of expectancies in prevention.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescence
• cannabis use
• expectancies
• social anxiety

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS). Emilie Schmits is a research assistant under contract with the FNRS.