We previously showed that SDPS dramatically increased alcohol break points and that the SDPS‐induced depressive state, as manifested in social avoidance after defeat, was predictive of a high motivational drive to seek alcohol.20 Here, we demonstrated that SDPS‐prone rats showed a similar, yet exaggerated response to PR training, confirming the crucial interaction between depression susceptibility and alcohol vulnerability. In support of this, resilience to SDPS limited alcohol‐related motivational overdrive, as SDPS‐resilient rats demonstrated PR performance similar to controls. This further indicates the conducive role of depression susceptibility on AUD‐like manifestations.
