College students who are have higher social anxiety appear to be more vulnerable and impacted by marijuana problems. Students who were classified with social anxiety disorder were five times more likely to develop a dependence for marijuana in the future.

A key discernment between those who use marijuana more frequently than others appears to be the difference in expectancies. College students who use more expect positive effects, like mood reduction. Whereas, college students who expect the negative effects of marijuana, use the substance less.

Social anxiety does not relate to the amount of marijuana that is consumed but the particular negative or positive expectancies that an individual has when anticipating the taking of the substance. There is a positive correlation between social anxiety and having negative expectancies of marijuana.