Time intervals between occasions of measurement were approximately 9 months. Cross-lagged latent variable models indicated that higher levels of depression at Time 1 were significantly associated with lower levels of problem drinking at Time 2. Similarly, higher levels of problem drinking at Time 1 were significantly associated with lower levels of depression at Time 2; however, the direction of effects for the cross-lagged coefficients were reversed for the Time-2-to-Time-3 relations. Higher levels of depression at Time 2 were significantly associated with higher levels of problem drinking at Time 3, and higher levels of problem drinking at Time 2 were associated with higher levels of depression at Time 3. Although speculative at this point, it is possible that problem drinking and depression are reciprocally related to one another and are associated positively with one another over time in the earlier phases of heavy drinking. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 23 references