However, our secondary analysis of the individual emotional problems subscale items suggests that these negative associations differ across components of the internalizing spectrum. In particular, items suggestive of phobia (“many fears, easily scared”) and separation anxiety (“nervous or clingy in new situations…”) are more consistently associated with lower alcohol use than are the other items. These findings are consistent with previous studies suggesting that particular manifestations of childhood internalizing problems are differentially associated with alcohol use (Hussong et al., 2011; Kaplow et al., 2001; King et al., 2004; Marmorstein et al., 2010b; Wu et al., 2010), though findings are inconsistent as to whether anxiety or depressive disorders are more problematic. A previous study of the ALSPAC sample found that self-reported depressive symptoms at age 10.5 were positively associated with problematic alcohol use in adolescence (Saraceno et al., 2011); this is consistent with the result for binge drinking reported here. While the limited nature of the SDQ (i.e., one item per manifestation) precluded more nuanced analyses, we do find support for the hypothesis that specific childhood internalizing constructs are differentially related to alcohol outcomes. Additional research is needed with a more comprehensive set of variables.
