The study involved a prospective epidemiological investigation of elementary school students between 9 and 13 years of age in Baltimore, Maryland. Perceived cognitive competence, peer use of alcohol, and other suspected risk characteristics for alcohol-related problems were assessed in 1990 among 1,232 children with no prior history of problems related to drinking alcohol. Occurrences of alcohol-related problems were assessed in subsequent annual interviews through 1994. Four years later, 17.6 percent of the children developed one or more alcohol-related problems for the first time during follow-up. Having depressive symptoms was associated with a higher risk of developing alcohol-related problems, while perceived cognitive competence was not. The evidence from exploratory analysis suggested possible interaction between depressive symptoms and perceived cognitive competence. Alcohol-related problems developed earlier for young people reporting both lower perceived cognitive competence and depressive symptoms, relative to those with no depressive symptoms and high cognitive competence. Further, among children with at least one depressive symptom, having lower or moderate perceived cognitive competence was associated with doubling alcohol-related problems relative to those with high cognitive competence. The evidence does not support a strong association between perceived cognitive competence and later alcohol-related problems, but depressive symptoms may combine to foster the subsequent development of alcohol-related problems. 32 references, 4 tables, and 1 figure