DescriptionThe goal of this study was to examine whether conduct disorder (CD) moderates the association between social phobia (SP) and substance use disorders (SUDs) (and secondarily, whether this association differs by gender). To examine this relationship, three archival data sets were used: National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), The Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders (ME CA) and National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). These data sets provided information on the independent (SP, CD, gender) and dependent (alcohol abuse with or without dependence, alcohol dependence, drug abuse with or without dependence, drug dependence, any alcohol diagnosis, any drug diagnosis, any abuse and any dependence) variables that this study examined. Also, of the age groups represented in these data sets, only 15-22 year olds were included in this study. Logistic regression was used to test the significance of interaction effects between SP and CD when predicting SUDs. The overall findings indicated that gender did not moderate the association between SP and SUDs; however, the results from the Combined, NCS and NCS-R datasets indicated that although adolescents and young adults with SP and/or CD were at increased risk for SUDs, the risk for an alcohol use disorder (AUD) that is associated with having both SP and CD is less than would be expected based on the additive effects of these disorders. These results suggest that the processes involved in the development of AUDs differ among people with SP and those without SP, with CD being more prominent in the process for those without SP and less prominent in the process for those with SP. Future research more closely examining how CD influences associations between SP and alcohol use disorders
is needed.