In the present preclinical study, we examined the effects of depression vulnerability on alcohol seeking and alcohol‐taking behaviors. This was to establish whether SDPS‐proneness, which is associated with primary depressive‐like symptoms, promotes secondary alcohol use disorder, two phenotypes that are often comorbid in humans.3 We used SDPS in rats to model a depressive‐like state that is sustained for at least 6 months following exposure to stress,20 mimicking chronic depression in humans. Our approach allowed for measuring different features of alcohol seeking and alcohol taking in depression‐prone vs depression‐resilient individuals (Figure S6), drawing parallels to the human disorder.
