With respect to behavioral control, measures such as disinhibition have been linked with AUD and other externalizing psychopathology, as these disorders are characterized by impulsive behavior (Gorenstein & Newman, 1980; Sher & Trull, 1994). There has been considerably less work concerning behavioral control as a risk factor for MDD and other internalizing disorders, but a lack of self-control has been linked to general, negative outcomes (e.g. health behaviors, mortality; Bogg & Roberts, 2004). There are several processes by which control-based risk may underlie MDD and AUD. Prior work by our group found that the Effortful Control Scale (subscales of inhibitory control, activational control, attentional control; Derryberry & Rothbart, 1988) explained a substantial proportion of the covariation between MDD and AUD (Ellingson et al. 2015). Given the content of the Effortful Control and MPQ Control scales, low behavioral control may be a risk mechanism via diminished ability to inhibit urges to drink, thus increasing liability for AUD (Sharbanee et al. 2014). Similarly, low behavioral control may decrease one’s tendency to initiate adaptive activities when a depressed mood is present, thus increasing
