Alcoholic phenotypes based on psychopathology differed in terms of expression and course, primarily reflecting the presence or absence of externalizing psychopathology. The greatly increased consumption levels among alcoholics with externalizing psychopathology are consistent with numerous adolescent, general population and clinical studies (King and Chassin, 2007; Merline et al., 2008; Maggs et al., 2008; Sartor et al., 2007; Epstein et al., 2002; Windle and Scheidt, 2004; Carpenter and Hasin, 2001) and corresponded to a substantial increase in the number of AUD symptoms. Surprisingly, externalizing alcoholics were no less likely to have achieved remission by the time they were interviewed than those without externalizing psychopathology; in fact, male alcoholics with EO were 60% more likely to be in remission than those with NINE. This seemingly anomalous finding is consistent with Zucker’s (1986) developmentally limited alcoholic subtype, which is characterized by maturing out of heavy drinking and drinking problems with the adoption of adult role responsibilities but may also reflect the fact that externalizing alcoholics were more likely than those with NINE or IO to have received alcohol treatment.
