In the current study, we aim to clarify the relationship between trajectories of childhood internalizing symptoms with early adolescent alcohol use, using a large, population-based sample of children in the UK. The goals of our analyses are to identify distinct trajectories of childhood internalizing symptoms in this sample, and to determine whether these trajectories are differentially associated with risk of alcohol use early in adolescence, when individuals typically begin experimenting with alcohol. We examine whether the data provide support for the hypothesis that the relationship between childhood internalizing symptoms and adolescent alcohol use varies as a function of symptom course. For example, are individuals whose internalizing symptoms have not yet remitted by late childhood less likely to experiment with alcohol at 13.8 than their peers? The null hypothesis is that individuals who experience different courses of internalizing symptoms as children do not differ from peers on adolescent drinking outcomes.
