Only 15% of individuals with AUDs ever receive treatment of any kind, and evidence indicates that this subset differs substantially from the AUD population as a whole on a number of relevant demographic, physiological, and psychological variables (Hasin et al., 2007). Epidemiological data show that factors associated with treatment-seeking include older age, male sex, and greater lifetime incidence of mood, personality, and other substance use disorders (Cohen et al., 2007). Fein and Landman (2005) compared alcohol use trajectories in treatment-naïve individuals and abstinent, treated individuals matched on age of alcohol dependence onset. Although groups did not differ in the time from initiation of drinking to onset of heavy drinking, the treated group had a significantly higher average intake and peak intake than the treatment-naive group (Fein and Landman, 2005).
