Finally, analyses included controls for several early adolescent influences on subsequent alcohol involvement, subjective well-being, and problem drinking, including early substance use, early conduct problems, early depressed mood, and gender. Early alcohol and other substance use initiation increases risk for the development of problem drinking and alcohol use disorders (Hingson et al., 2006). For example, Mason et al. (2010) found that alcohol use at age 10 positively predicted alcohol use disorders at ages 21 and 24 through higher levels of adolescent alcohol use in a sample of urban youth. Research further indicates that both early conduct problems (Mason, Hitchings, & Spoth, 2007; Stice et al., 1998; Windle, 1990) and early depressed mood (Crum et al., 2008; Mason et al., 2007) are prevalent problems that increase risk for subsequent adolescent alcohol involvement, prompting Brown and her colleagues (2000, p. S299) to note that developmental analyses of alcohol effects need to control for these comorbidities. Although rates of alcohol initiation and use in adolescence are comparable for boys and girls (Johnston et al., 2010), rates of heavy drinking and adverse consequences tend
