Some factors influencing remission may overlap with those influencing the development of AUDs, but others might be distinct, and may even diverge from the dimension of liability underlying AUDs (15). Substance use disorders are often conceptualized as lying on an externalizing dimension which is characterized by impulsive and antisocial behavior (16) and which has substantial evidence for familial transmission (17–20). Many questions used to tap behavioral symptoms of AUDs, such as whether alcohol was used in physically hazardous situations or social and interpersonal problems stemming from alcohol use, are at the same time addressing externalizing behaviors consistent with this conceptualization. Externalizing disorders are associated with poorer substance abuse treatment outcomes in clinical samples (21, 22) but, among abstinent individuals with histories of alcohol dependence, externalizing traits do not necessarily inhibit the ability to remit (23–26). For example, abstinent men and women recruited from a variety of sources (e.g., bars, community centers, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings) had more lifetime antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) symptoms and scored higher on trait measures of antisocial disposition (e.g., MMPI-2 Psychopathic Deviance Scale) than did nonalcoholic controls,
