alcohol-using peers in early adolescence. As a consequence of limited access and opportunity to use alcohol, early drinkers may exhibit slower transitions to alcohol problems but accumulate more years at risk, yielding a higher cumulative risk of dependence. While somewhat unexpected for divorce, this pattern is consistent with a growing literature linking early initiation to delayed transitions to dependence (e.g., Jackson, 2010; Sartor et al., 2007; Sartor et al., 2008), and also was observed in the present sample. As shown in Supplementary Tables 2 and 3, individuals who began drinking earlier (i.e., before age 16) progressed more slowly to first dependence symptom and dependence diagnosis initially, but were at increased risk of developing AD symptoms six or more years after initiation.
