Background. Little is known about how the excessive drinking culture entrenched in college social life influences the fear of missing out (FOMO) on the binge drinking experience among college students and how such fear plays in the mechanisms linking various risk factors with binge drinking intentions. Objectives. The main objectives of this dissertation were to 1) extend previous research on the general fear of missing out (FOMO) by investigating the effects of perceived peripherality, the need to belong, and fear of social exclusion, 2) develop and validate a self-report measure of alcohol-related FOMO, and 3) assess the role of alcohol-related FOMO in increasing binge drinking intentions through mediating the effect of alcohol positive expectancies, reducing alcohol negative expectancies, and enhancing susceptibility to peer norms. Method. A college student sample (N = 490; 66.3% female) completed a one-shot survey. Self-report data was analyzed using correlational and regression analyses, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modeling along with mediation, moderation, and multi-group analyses. Results. The need to belong emerged as the best predictor of FOMO, accounting for most of its explained variance. With regard to the scale development, factor analyses supported an 18-item multidimensional scale tapping the alcohol-related FOMO (ALFOMO). The scale demonstrated good internal consistency, satisfied the requirements for convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity, and was free of gender bias. Additionally, ALFOMO was a significant focal predictor of binge drinking intentions. It significantly mediated the effect of alcohol positive expectancies, reduced the severity of negative expectancies, and mediated and moderated the positive effect of peer descriptive norms. Conclusions. This dissertation presents the development and initial validation of the alcohol-related FOMO scale. The present work also provides the first theoretical and empirical investigation of the alcohol-related FOMO in relation to alcohol expectancies, peer norms, and binge drinking intentions. Results confirm that the ALFOMO scale is a promising measure and provide evidence for its indispensability in future research and interventions. Contributions, implications, and limitations are further discussed in light of the findings.

Alcohol use increases dramatically in college, and drinking in college students is often problematic. Drinking is overwhelmingly used socially, especially among adolescents and young adults. Developmentally, these age groups demonstrate increased social sensitivity, especially to social evaluation and reward; they also endorse beliefs that alcohol use is socially rewarding. The social-attributional and social cognitive models of drinking posit that uncertainty about social evaluation and rejection from others which is heightened around unfamiliar as opposed to familiar peers leads to increased state social anxiety, which activates positive socially-related alcohol expectancies. The present study aimed to confirm this relationship. In a sample of college students (N = 136), mixed models were used to examine the association between peer familiarity (manipulated within vignettes) and alcohol expectancies (assessed via self-report), assessing state social anxiety (self-reported after each vignette) as a potential moderator of this relationship. Results indicated that state social anxiety moderated the relationship between peer familiarity and the tension reduction alcohol expectancy, but in a different manner than expected; the moderation was such that, when participants reported low state anxiety, the unfamiliar condition increased the tension reduction alcohol expectancy in comparison to the familiar condition, whereas when participants reported high state anxiety ratings, the unfamiliar condition decreased the tension reduction alcohol expectancy in relation to the familiar condition. No moderation was found for social enhancement or positive mood enhancement alcohol expectancies. Aside from moderation results, state social anxiety emerged as a strong positive predictor of positive alcohol expectancies. Overall, findings indicate that the social-attributional and social cognitive models may not accurately describe the relationship between peer familiarity, social anxiety, and alcohol expectancies for this sample or study design. Exploratory mixed model analyses for specific subsets of the sample (low vs high trait social anxiety groups) and study conditions (four different vignette scenarios) provide some insight about cases in which the models may be less or more accurate. Overall findings also highlight the importance of state social anxiety as a predictor of alcohol expectancies, and the complexities of examining contextual factors related to alcohol expectancies and alcohol use.

Alcohol consumption is a prominent component of the college culture; high-risk consumption may lead to detrimental consequences for the student. Problematic alcohol consumption is linked to sexual assault, drunk driving, vandalism, and other unlawful activities. The degree to which students conform to the perceived social norms of the culture of the campus may impact the amount of alcohol that students consume; perceived social norms are often higher than the actual consumption amounts. Social anxiety may also impact the degree to which students will self-monitor their behavior in order to conform to their perceptions of the drinking norms. Drinking motives may also play a part in the amount and frequency of alcohol consumed, whether it's participating in drinking games during social gatherings, or consuming at the same rate as their peers for social acceptance. The study tested two hypotheses. The first hypothesis states: H1: The relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consumption would be moderated by perceived social norms. The second hypothesis states: H2: The relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consumption would be mediated by the drinking motives of coping and social pressure/conformity. Social anxiety was measured by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety scale (LSAS). The measure for alcohol consumption was based on self-reports for the number of drinks consumed per week. The measure for perceived social norms was the comparisons of the actual number of drinks consumed by the participant pool on average per week, in comparison with the number of drinks that the participant estimates that their peer consumes per week. The measure for social norms/alcohol expectancies and drinking motives was the evaluation of the responses sampled from the CORE Alcohol and Drug Survey and Drinking Motives Questionnaire- Revised (DMQR). The results indicated that the students who overestimated the alcohol consumption of their peers reported lower levels of alcohol consumption. Perceived social norms did not moderate the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consumption. There was no significance found in the mediation of either of the drinking motives in the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol consumption.

Nearly two thirds of full-time college students report alcohol use (Hingson, 2009). Previous research has identified risk factors that place college students at higher risk for problematic alcohol use (Hingson, 2009; Johnston et al., 2003; Marlatt et al., 2002). The present study examined the relationship between three personality traits, alcohol expectancies, alcohol consumption, and negative consequences of drinking among community college students.

Abstract: The primary focus of this study was to examine cognitive and emotional factors for alcohol consumption in freshman and senior college students. Alcohol Expectancies, Coping Style, and Affect were expected to predict alcohol consumption in the entire sample and for each cohort. Coping Style and Affect did not predict alcohol use in either group. Alcohol Expectancies, specifically Liquid Courage and Self-Perception, were related to drinking rates in the full sample. Only Self-Perception was predictive of both freshman and senior drinking. The effects of Self-Perception were moderated by level of peer use and seen only among participants with low-peer use rates. Perceived peer alcohol use was highly predictive of alcohol consumption and accounted for more than 40-50% of the variance.

This dissertation critically reviewed empirical evidence that examines the role that social anxiety and alcohol expectancies play in the drinking behaviors of U.S. college students. The hypothesis, based partially upon the Social Cognitive Model (SCM) (Burke and Stephens, 1999), proposed that college students who have symptoms of social anxiety and also endorse positive alcohol expectancies will be at a higher risk for alcohol dependent behaviors and alcohol related problems than will college students who have symptoms of social anxiety who endorse negative alcohol expectancies. Nine empirical articles were chosen based upon specific criteria. The studies must have collected data from students that were currently enrolled at United States universities and colleges, must have been published in English and in peer reviewed journals between January 1, 2000 and September 1, 2012. Each study examined the variables of social anxiety, drinking behavior, and alcohol expectancies. Studies were not excluded if they studied additional variables. Dissertations, master's theses, and non-peer reviewed articles were excluded. Articles examining the studied variables in the context of a treatment study (e.g.,examining whether students' alcohol expectancies change after alcohol psycho-education oranother such treatment modality) were excluded. While social anxiety was not found to have a main effect on drinking behaviors of college students, positive alcohol outcome expectancies were found to have a positive association with drinking. The review also supported an interaction between social anxiety and alcohol outcome expectancies on drinking behaviors. Limitations included that samples were not randomized, self-report measures were used, designs were cross-sectional, and that non-Caucasian ethnicities were under-represented. Implications for college drinking prevention efforts and future research are discussed.