Table 2 summarizes parameter estimates from the GEE model predicting frequency of alcohol consumption among participants without AD. Consistent with Hypothesis 1, positive reinforcement was more strongly associated with more frequent alcohol consumption than was negative reinforcement, as indicated by the larger regression coefficient for positive reinforcement. Tests of the parameters indicated that positive reinforcement, but not negative reinforcement, was significantly associated with frequency of alcohol consumption. Table 3 summarizes parameter estimates from the GEE model predicting AD by positive and negative reinforcement, which tests Hypothesis 2. Results indicated that both positive and negative reinforcement were significantly associated with AD. However, we only observed a slight difference in regression coefficients for positive and negative reinforcement, which did not provide clear support for Hypothesis 2.
