The National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) interviews were conducted with persons in households, military personnel living off base, and individuals living in group quarters such as boarding houses, shelters, and college dorms. The aim of NESARC was to assess alcohol and other substance use and mental disorders according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th. Edition (DSM-IV) [22]. Data were collected to obtain a representative national sample of US adults. In Wave 1 (2001–2002), face-to-face interviews were completed with 43,093 persons aged 18 years or older. Blacks, Hispanics, and young adults (18–24 years) were oversampled. The Wave 1 sample was re-interviewed in Wave 2 (2004–2005) three years later (mean interval = 36.6 months, s.d. = 2.62) [23] with an overall response rate based on the Wave 1 sample of 86.7% (N = 34,653). Details of the NESARC Wave 1 and Wave 2 studies have been described extensively elsewhere [9,24,25].
