The primary goal of our study was to attempt to replicate Dawson and colleagues’ (2007) finding of drinking onset as a moderator of the association between SLE and alcohol consumption. We also extended their analyses in 3 ways. First, the abundant examples of sex differences in stress-related drinking behaviors (e.g., Brennan et al., 1999; Perreira and Sloan, 2001; c.f. Veenstra et al., 2007) prompted us to examine the role of sex in this association. Second, we directly investigated whether the association of drinking onset with stress-related drinking would vary depending on the degree to which an individual’s behavior contributed to the occurrence of SLE. Third, because we studied a twin sample, we were able to employ biometric analyses to explore the roles of genetic and environmental factors in mediating the overlap of drinking onset and SLE in their relations with alcohol consumption.
