Among the study participants with mood symptoms, 226 new onset cases of alcohol dependence developed during follow-up. A total of 1,708 (40.5%) of the baseline sample met the criteria for a 12-month DSM-IV mood disorder, and an additional 2,513 (59.5%) had mood symptoms without meeting full criteria for a mood disorder diagnosis. A total of 455 cases of persistent alcohol dependence were identified by the time of the wave 2 interview. The baseline characteristics associated with incidence and persistence of alcohol dependence are presented in Table 1. In the initial bivariate analyses, individuals who developed new onset alcohol dependence as well as those with persistence of alcohol dependence were more likely to report having used alcohol to self-medicate their mood symptoms. In addition, individuals with incident or persistent alcohol dependence were more likely to be male, among the youngest age group classification (18-29 years of age), to report greater quantity and frequency of consumption, and to be diagnosed with illicit drug or nicotine dependence. Furthermore, persistence of alcohol dependence tended to be more strongly associated with a mood and/or substance
