SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2026
Understanding the relationship of social anxiety with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in young people: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Understanding the relationship of social anxiety with alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in young people: A meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsSocial anxiety is associated with disparate alcohol-related outcomes among young people. This meta-analysis synthesised the literature to determine what factors (e.g. impulsivity) may account for variance in these outcomes.
methodsEmpirical studies reporting the correlation of social anxiety with alcohol use and/or alcohol-related problems (ARPs) among young people (aged 13-29 years) were identified through a systematic literature search. Five random-effects meta-analyses were performed for ARPs, problematic alcohol use, frequency, quantity and quantity by frequency index measures of alcohol use. Seventy studies were included with 233 effect sizes extracted. The average age was 20 years (n = 38 517; 66.2% female).
resultsSocial anxiety was negatively associated with index alcohol use [number of studies (k) = 28, r = -0.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.08 to -0.03, t = -4.04, P < 0.001] but statistically non-significant with quantity (k = 21, r = 0.00, 95% CI = -0.04 to 0.05, t = 0.18, P = 0.86) or frequency (k = 18, r = -0.01, 95% CI = -0.06 to 0.05, t = -0.29, P = 0.78) of alcohol use. Social anxiety was statistically significantly positively associated with ARPs (k = 45, r = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.10-0.16, t = 9.93, P < 0.001) and problematic alcohol use (k = 23, r = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.01-0.11, t = 2.68, P = 0.01). Impulsivity was a statistically significant moderator, such that, as the correlation of impulsivity with social anxiety increased, the association of social anxiety with index alcohol use positively increased. Subgroup analyses for ARPs measure used were also statistically significant.
conclusionYoung people with elevated social anxiety appear to drink less alcohol than their peers, but report more problematic alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Impulsivity may clarify unexpected patterns of lower alcohol consumption, although conclusions remain tentative due to methodological constraints.
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