The structure of alcohol dependence in the community.
BACKGROUND
Although dependence on alcohol appears to be a reliable unitary construct, abuse has not found a similar level of support as a separate construct. This paper describes a confirmatory factor analysis of the DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence criteria in a general population sample.


METHODS
Data from alcohol drinkers (n = 7746) were obtained from a cross-sectional study of a large, representative sample of the Australian general population. One- and two-factor solutions for the DSM-IV criteria for abuse and dependence (assessed by CIDI-Auto) were compared using confirmatory factor analysis.


RESULTS
Approximately 74% of Australians had used alcohol 12 or more times in the past year and 19% met at least one DSM-IV alcohol abuse or dependence criterion. Overall 6% met criteria for an alcohol use disorder (1.9% abuse, 4.1% dependence). More men than women met criteria for an alcohol use disorder and the prevalence of alcohol use disorders decreased with increasing age. Both one- and two-factor solutions from the confirmatory factor analyses provided an adequate fit to the data for the overall sample. The correlation between the abuse and dependence factors in the two-factor model was extremely high (0.95).


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol abuse and dependence criteria were most parsimoniously described by a single continuous construct incorporating all eleven abuse and dependence criteria.
Proudfoot
Heather
H
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. h.proudfoot@unsw.edu.au
Baillie
Andrew J
AJ
Teesson
Maree
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors