This study assessed selfreported alcohol use by college students during a variety of online activiti

1
Drinking and Surfing Examination of Alcohol
Use During On-Line Activities
Wendy Wolfe, Forrest Files, Shrinidhi
Subramaniam
Question 2. Is there a relationship between
problematic use of the internet and problematic
drinking? There was no correlation (r .03)
between scores on the AUDIT and the IAT. This
remained the case even for participants who were
high in social anxiety. Question 3. Is social
anxiety related to participants drinking
behavior during in vivo and on-line activities?
Somewhat surprisingly, t-tests showed that
participants low in social anxiety were
significantly more likely than those high in
social anxiety to report they would be likely to
drink at parties involving small or large
gatherings (p lt .01). There also was no
significant correlation between social anxiety
and tendency to use the internet while drinking
or intoxicated. Participants with high versus low
social anxiety were no different in terms of
activities engaged in during on-line drinking.
However, those high in social anxiety were more
likely to report they felt more comfortable being
themselves and felt less anxious when using
alcohol during on-line activities (p lt .05).
Abstract
Participants

• This study assessed self-reported alcohol use by
  college students during a variety of on-line
  activities in order to determine how the
  internet-based social environment of today
  compares to an in-vivo social environment.
  Alcohol use during non-internet activities,
  addiction proneness, social anxiety, alcohol, and
  drinking-related consequences also were examined.

Eighty-one students (mean age 23 years)
enrolled at AASU completed the majority of the
survey items. Most of the participants were
Caucasian (79) and female (77). Although
students received extra credit in psychology
courses for their participation, a variety of
academic majors were represented in our sample.
Participants reported typical college student use
of the internet, with 69 reporting accessing the
web several times a day for an average of 12
hours of internet use per week. All participants
were required to be current alcohol users.
Responses on the Alcohol Use Disorders Test
(AUDIT) indicated that most participants were
moderate to heavy alcohol users, with 69
drinking 2 to 4 times a month or more and 61
drinking 3 or more drinks per occasion.
Introduction
Alcohol has been called a social lubricant for
its effect on decreasing anxiety in social
situations and facilitating interaction,
particularly among those with some degree of
social anxiety. However, in recent years young
people are spending more and more time
socializing and recreating through the vehicle of
technology, through means such as email, on-line
chat rooms, discussion boards, and interactive
gaming and gambling. However, little can be found
in the published literature regarding alcohol use
during on-line activities. A primary purpose of
this investigation was to assess alcohol use
during a variety of internet-based activities, in
part to determine if alcohol use is most common
during interactive (social) on-line activities.
Consequences of on-line drinking were also
assessed to determine if unique consequences
exist for on-line drinking. A second aim of this
investigation was to determine if an association
exists between problematic drinking and
problematic internet use. A third aim was to
examine the role of social anxiety in
participants drinking behavior during a variety
of in vivo and internet-based activities.
Results
Question 1. What is the nature of alcohol use
during on-line activities? Thirty-seven percent
of participants reported that they have consumed
alcohol while using the internet. Fifty-three
percent reported that they have gone on-line
while intoxicated. Of participants who reported
using the internet while drinking or intoxicated,
Figure 1 shows their reported likelihood of
engaging in various internet-based activities
while drinking or intoxicated. Given that some
activities were only engaged in (while drinking
or sober) by a minority of participants, Figure 1
data only includes those who reported at least
moderate involvement with the activity in
general. Figure 2 depicts the range of
consequences reported by participants in
association with their on-line drinking.
Discussion
A significant number of participants reported
using the internet while drinking or intoxicated.
Internet drinking spanned a variety of on-line
activities, though was most common during
interactive (social) activities (e.g.,
interactive (real-time) chat, interactive and
role player games) and during general
entertainment (e.g., watching streaming video,
listening to and downloading music). Commonly
cited outcomes of internet drinking included
posting something the individual later regretted,
spending more time on-line and neglecting other
things, and enjoying the activity more. Socially
anxious individuals were more likely to report
that they felt more comfortable and less anxious
on-line while drinking, though they were not more
likely, in general, to drink during their
internet use. Finally, there was no connection in
this investigation between internet use problems
(addiction) and alcohol use problems (addiction).
It is noteworthy that three quarters of our
participants were female. An attempt is being
made to recruit a more diverse sample to
determine if our results generalize to a sample
with more male participants.
Method
Participants completed a series of questionnaires
on www.surveymonkey.com, an internet-based data
collection program. Measures were developed by
the first author to assess internet use, social
anxiety-based drinking tendencies, and drinking
behaviors and consequences during on-line
activities. The AUDIT and the Internet Addiction
Test (IAT) were used to assess problems in these
domains. The Social Avoidance and Distress Scale
(SAD) was used to assess degree of social
anxiety.
For further information, contact the first author
at wendy.wolfe_at_armstrong.edu
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the
Southeastern Psychological Association,
Charlotte, NC (3-7-08).