Anxiety sensitivity, self-reported motives for alcohol and nicotine use, and level of consumption Amber Novak, Ellen S. Burgess, Matthew Clark, Michael J. Zvolensky, Richard A. Brown * Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI 02906, USA Received 24 October 2000; received in revised form 18 April 2001; accepted 22 June 2001 Abstract Weexaminedtherelationshipbetweenanxietysensitivity,alcoholandnicotineuse,and drinking and smoking motives in a nonclinical university population. Participants (n  293) completed the 16-item Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) Index and a drinking and smoking history questionnaire. Sixty percent of participants completed the Drinking Motives Questionnaire and 29% completed the Smoking Motives Questionnaire. Level ofalcoholandcigaretteconsumptionwasnotrelatedtoASbutwasrelatedtomotives.AS was directly related to coping-related drinking and moderated the relationship between levelofsmokingandmood-relatedsmokingmotives.AlthoughASmaybemorepredictive of coping-related drinking motives than of level of alcohol consumption, given the relationship between these types of drinking motives and abusive drinking, high AS individualsmightbeanat-riskgroupduetotheirreasonsfordrinking.Inaddition,striking differences were found between drinkers who smoke and those who do not smoke, suggesting that this subgroup may also represent an at-risk group of drinkers. # 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Anxiety sensitivity; Alcohol; Nicotine Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of anxiety-related sensations, arising from beliefs that anxiety symptoms lead to disastrous physical, emotional, or social Anxiety Disorders 17 (2003) 165±180 * Corresponding author. Tel.: 1-401-455-6254; fax: 1-401-455-6424. E-mail address: richard_brown@brown.edu (R.A. Brown). 0887-6185/02/$ ± see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII:S0887-6185(02)00175-5