Alcohol consumption in university women: A second look at the role of anxiety sensitivity

The study reexamined the relationship between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and drinking behavior in a sample of university women (N = 197) taking into acc ount recent theoretical considerations regarding the possible hierarchical nature of the AS construct, To assess the incremental validity of this cons truct, the amount of variance in drinking behavior accounted for by measure s of AS and trait anxiety was investigated with several multiple regression analyses, Contrary to expectations, measures of both constructs failed to account for significant variance in drinking behavior: McNally's [1996: Rap ee RM, editor Current Controversies in anxiety disorders, p 214-244] hypoth esis regarding a trait anxiety by AS interaction received weak support as t he combination of these two variables accounted for a small (i.e., 1.6%) po rtion of variance in one drinking variable (viz,, monthly intoxication), Co rrelational analyses revealed only two small and marginally significant ass ociations between the lower-order components of AS (i.e., fears of physical , cognitive, and publicity observable symptoms of anxiety) and the drinking measures. Potential reasons for the failure to replicate or extend Stewart et al,'s [1995: J Anxiety Disord 9:283-392] findings of significant positi ve associations between AS and both weekly alcohol consumption and excessiv e drinking are discussed. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.