Perceived psychological control relates to coping-related drinking motives via social anxiety among adolescents: A cross-sectional mediation analysis

• Published in: Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2024-08, Vol.118, p.17-24
• Main Authors: Ramarushton, Banan, Blumenthal, Heidemarie, Slavish, Danica C., Kaminski, Patricia L., Ramadan, Taqwa, Lewis, Sarah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescents; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Alcohol use; Anxiety; Anxiety - psychology; Anxiety disorders; Behavior; Child development; College students; Coping; Cross-Sectional Studies; Drinking behavior; drinking-to-cope motive; Drug use; Female; Humans; Longitudinal studies; Male; Mediation Analysis; Motivation; Parental behavior; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; perceived parental psychological control; Personality; Risk factors; Social anxiety; Teenagers; Underage Drinking - psychology
• ISSN: 0741-8329; 1873-6823; 1873-6823
• DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2023.11.001

Accumulating evidence suggests that particular parenting behaviors (e.g., elevated psychological control) may increase risk for both problematic social anxiety and alcohol use among youth; however, no work has yet examined these factors together in a single model. Building developmentally sensitive models of problematic alcohol use trajectories is key to developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. The present study includes 94 adolescents (ages 14–17 years; 53.3% girls; 89.2% White) entering a treatment facility for a variety of internalizing and externalizing forms of psychological distress. Levels of perceived parental psychological control, social anxiety, and coping-related drinking motives were assessed. Higher levels of perceived psychological control were associated with a greater endorsement of coping-related drinking motives; however, a significant proportion of that association was accounted for by elevated social anxiety symptoms. These data extend the existing literature and lay groundwork for more sophisticated experimental and longitudinal designs to corroborate the findings. Moreover, personality-targeted drinking interventions for adolescents may benefit from identifying elevated perceived psychological control as a developmentally relevant risk factor for social anxiety and problematic drinking motives and administering relevant interventions (e.g., personality-targeted coping skills training, parent-involved care) before drinking patterns are established. •Higher parental psychological control is related to more social anxiety symptoms.•Higher social anxiety symptoms are related to more coping-related drinking motives.•Psychological control had an indirect effect on coping motives via social anxiety.