Concern for appropriateness, religiosity, and gender as predictors of alcohol and marijuana use

The validity of the Concern for Appropriateness Scale (CAS) as a direct or indirect predictor of alcohol and marijuana use in college students was investigated in this study. Specifically, the study examined whether the CAS, by itself, predicted self-reported alcohol and marijuana use and whether it interacted with gender and/or religiosity to predict alcohol and marijuana use. The Ss were 143 undergraduate students, and it was found that the CAS directly predicted marijuana use and also interacted with religiosity in the prediction of marijuana use. The results also indicated that the CAS did not directly predict alcohol use, but the CAS interacted with gender and religiosity in the prediction of alcohol use. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for validity of the CAS as an index of social anxiety.