Aims

To support the free and open dissemination of research findings and information on alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. To encourage open access to peer-reviewed articles free for all to view.

For full versions of posted research articles readers are encouraged to email requests for "electronic reprints" (text file, PDF files, FAX copies) to the corresponding or lead author, who is highlighted in the posting.

___________________________________________

Monday, June 14, 2010

The dimensionality of alcohol use disorders: Results from Israel



To prepare for DSM-V, the structure of DSM-IV alcohol dependence and abuse criteria and a proposed additional criterion, at-risk drinking, require study in countries with low per-capita consumption, and comparison of current and lifetime results within the same sample. We investigated DSM-IV Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) criteria in Israel, where per-capita alcohol consumption is low.

Household residents selected from the Israeli population register (N = 1338) were interviewed with the AUDADIS. Item response theory analyses were conducted using MPlus, and diagnostic thresholds were examined with the kappa statistic.

Dependence and abuse criteria fit a unidimensional model interspersed across the severity continuum, for both current and lifetime time frames. Legal problems were rare and did not improve model fit. Weekly at-risk drinking reflected greater severity than in U.S. samples. When dependence and abuse criteria were combined, a diagnostic threshold of ≥3 criteria produced the best agreement with DSM-IV diagnoses (kappa > 0.80

Consistent with other studies, alcohol dependence and abuse criteria reflected a latent variable representing a single AUD. Results suggested little effect in removing legal problems and little gained by adding weekly at-risk drinking. Results contribute to knowledge about AUD criteria by examining them in a low-consumption country.


Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: dsh2@columbia.edu


______________________________________________________