Several strengths of this study are notable. Utilizing a longitudinal data set that covered the developmental period from late adolescence to young adulthood, we provided empirical evidence for increasing salience of negative reinforcement associated with alcohol consumption as a function of the presence of AD. The age period included in our study is characterized by heightened risk of alcohol problems (SAMHSA, 2016) due to environmental changes that facilitate risky alcohol use (Bachman, Wadsworth, O’Malley, Johnston, & Schulenberg, 2013; Borsari, Murphy & Barnett 2007; White, Kraus, & Swartzwelder, 2006; White et al. 2006). Such characteristics of the data allowed tests of hypotheses regarding differential importance of positive and negative reinforcement in relation to alcohol consumption and AD. More importantly, repeated assessments of alcohol use outcomes and positive and negative reinforcement within individuals allowed an explicit test of the hypothesis regarding within-individual changes in the importance of positive and negative reinforcement in influencing drinking as a function of AD. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine within- individual changes in the role of positive and negative reinforcement in relation
