Social anxiety , anxiety sensitivity and the state of drug abuse among university students

Some of the psychological variables associated with substance abuse are widespread among university students. The main aim of this study is to examine the relationship between social anxiety, anxiety sensitivity and substance abuse of university students. In this study, substance abuse is discussed under three topics; smoking, alcohol consumption, and other substance abuse. This study designed as cross-sectional was conducted with 675 (Female=425, Male= 250) university students. Data were collected with Personal Information Form, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Symptoms Scale. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Logistic Regression Analysis were used to analyze data. Results of the study revealed that gender, age, mother?s smoking, avoidance which is the subscale of social anxiety, physical and cognitive symptoms which are the subscales of anxiety sensitivity were significant predictors of smoking. Age, gender, alcohol consumption of mother, cognitive symptoms which is the subscale of anxiety sensitivity, and social anxiety significantly predicted alcohol consumption. The abuse of other substances significantly was explained only by the variable of gender. In this case, the risk of abusing other substances of male students was higher than women. In this study, the prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption among university students was found higher compared to similar studies. Other findings of this study showed similarity with other findings other literature. The outcomes of the study are considered to contribute preventive and problem solving psycho-educational studies. Keywords: Social Anxiety, Anxiety Sensitivity, Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, Substance Abuse.