be a factor particularly when participants are asked to report on potentially stigmatizing behaviors such as underage drinking or excessive alcohol use. However, there is no reason to suspect that recall or reporting bias varies by race or ethnicity and thus should not influence major findings on racial or ethnic differences. Further, there is some evidence for the reliability and stability of retrospectively recalled history of substance involvement and age of first use (Koenig et al., 2009; Labouvie et al., 1997; Prause et al., 2007). Third, the coding scheme of the NESARC does not allow for an exploration of potential differences in persons of mixed race, and this must be considered when interpreting these results. Fourth, due to the limited number of participants of other races, we were unable to examine relationships by sex for such racial subgroups as Asian or Native Americans. Finally, other important variables were not measured or could not be included in the models, thus leaving room for some unaccounted rival explanations (e.g., religiosity, family and/or cultural norms about alcohol use, and neighborhood characteristics, among others). The present study may help motivate new studies that can address these alternative explanations.
