Genetic correlations between the gSEM components and external GWAS provide a basis to begin disentangling what comprises differences in genetic liability across development. Previous work demonstrates that the genetic liability underlying alcohol use frequency in adulthood is different than the genetic liability underlying other alcohol use outcomes in adulthood, such as alcohol problems and alcohol use quantity (Walters et al. 2018; Sanchez-Roige et al. 2019; Kranzler et al. 2019; Mallard et al. 2022b). Negative genetic correlations are reported between adult alcohol use frequency and externalizing phenotypes, while positive genetic correlations are reported between adult alcohol use frequency and indicators of socioeconomic status, such as educational attainment and income (Mallard et al. 2022b). The opposite pattern of results is observed for adult alcohol problems and alcohol use quantity: positive genetic correlations with externalizing phenotypes and negative genetic correlations with indicators of socioeconomic status (Mallard et al. 2022b). These previous results suggest that adult alcohol use frequency measures may index a variety of socioeconomic and environmental constructs that are not of immediate relevance in describing the etiology of clinically relevant alcohol use
