Behavioral control (reverse-scored) loads onto an externalizing spectrum factor and is related to phenotypic and genetic liability for externalizing psychopathology (Krueger et al. 2002). Similarly, control-based risk factors appear to be involved in internalizing disorders, with conscientiousness being the second-strongest personality correlate of MDD, after neuroticism (Kendler & Myers, 2010). The parallels between conscientiousness and behavioral control have been highlighted in the impulsivity literature, with both loading onto the construct of lack of planning (Whiteside & Lynam, 2001). Therefore, the definition of behavioral control in the current study was adapted from Whiteside & Lynam’s (2001) definition of lack of planning (the tendency to act on the spur of the moment and at the cost of long-term goals). Empirical work suggests mechanisms by which behavioral control may underlie both MDD and AUD, including attentional biases (Hankin et al. 2010; Sharbanee et al. 2014), delay discounting (Bickel & Marsch, 2001; Pulcu et al. 2014), and effortful/inhibitory control (Field et al. 2010; Kanske & Kotz, 2012). Consistent with this literature, prior work by our group has shown that trait effortful control (comprised of
