Epidemiological surveys show a doubling to quadrupling of the odds of being diagnosed with alcohol dependence among those with versus without any one of a number of common anxiety and affective (“internalizing”) disorders (Kessler et al., 1997). Because each internalizing disorder is considered to be an independent construct with a unique biology, psychology, course and optimal treatment (Gorman et al., 2000), it logically follows that each has a unique association with alcohol dependence. Consistent with this logic, the relationship between internalizing disorders and alcohol use disorder has typically been studied across a number of largely independent and minimally interacting research groups that “specialize” in a single internalizing disorder such as: social phobia (Thomas et al., 2008); generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (Smith and Tran, 2007); post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Driessen et al., 2008); panic disorder (Kushner et al., 2009); and depression (Nunes and Levin, 2004).
