After determining the most appropriate number of classes (see Results), we explored the predictive relationship between class membership and alcohol use outcomes via a series of contrast-coded predictors wherein an individual alcohol outcome was regressed onto the contrast and the covariates described above (maternal depression, income, and sex). As preliminary analyses indicated that some covariates were correlated (e.g., maternal depression and income), we employed a modeling framework that allowed for correlations among predictive variables. In each model, each class with elevated levels of internalizing symptoms was compared to the class with the lowest average internalizing score over time (see Results).
