“…an individual may take in response to intense negative affect (Cyders & Smith, 2008) and has been independently associated with greater rates of PTSD (Weiss et al, 2013) and alcohol-related problems in previous research (Settles, Cyders, & Smith, 2010; Wray, Simons, Dvorak, & Gaher, 2012; Kaiser, Milich, Lynam, & Charnigo, 2012; Shishido et al, 2013). Indeed, prospective research shows that posttraumatic stress symptoms are associated with, and predict, higher rates of future alcohol-related problems (Gaher et al, 2014; Hooper et al, 2008; Ouimette, Read, Wade, & Tirone, 2010). Due to the high comorbidity between PTSD and alcohol-related problems, it is essential to study PTSD and alcohol outcomes together in the same model and identify mechanisms to better understand the high comorbidity.…”