Comparing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy with and without motivational interviewing at reducing the social anxiety, alcohol consumption, and negative consequences of socially anxious college students

Although individuals suffering from social phobia are at an elevated risk for developing alcohol problems, little past research on the effectiveness of treatment for social phobia has not examined the effects of treatment on drinking. This study set out to compare the effectiveness at reducing the social anxiety, alcohol consumption, and negative consequences of alcohol consumption of socially anxious college students using Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) and Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy with Motivational Interviewing (CBGT + MI). Twenty-three socially anxious undergraduate college students participated in this study were randomly divided into the CBGT condition (n = 10) and the CBGT + MI condition (n =13). Participants' social anxiety, alcohol consumption over the last 30 days, and negative consequences of alcohol consumption were compared using the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS; Mattick & Clarke, 1998), Timeline Follow-back Daily Drinking Estimation Method (TLFB; Sobell & Sobell, 1992), and Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI; White & Labouvie, 1989), respectively. It was hypothesized that (1) both groups would demonstrate equal, yet significant reductions in their social anxiety, (2) participants in the CBGT + MI group would demonstrate significantly larger reductions in their alcohol consumption than individuals in the CBGT group, and (3) individuals in the CBGT + MI group would demonstrate significantly larger reductions in their reported negative consequences of alcohol consumption than participants in the CBGT. The hypotheses were analyzed using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine differences in the scores on each dependent variable (social anxiety, alcohol consumption, and negative consequences) between the participants' pre-, mid- and post-treatment scores. Results indicate that the participants reported significant decreases in their social anxiety levels from pre- to post-assessment, F (2, 36) = 22.72, p < .001, and that these differences did not differ between conditions, F (2, 36) = .806, p = .437. However, results failed to support the predictions that individuals in the CBGT + MI condition would report significantly larger decreases in negative consequences of alcohol consumption, F (1.45, 36) = 2.44, p = .120, and alcohol consumption, F (1, 18) = .655, p = .429, than individuals in the CBGT condition. Future research may seek to differentiate between the two subtypes of socially anxious drinkers, one subtype that may believe that alcohol consumption will lead to them to become disinhibited and a second subtype that may fear the deleterious effects alcohol consumption will have on their behavior. Future research also may seek to assess the positive and negative effects of social anxiety treatment on alcohol consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)