Current drinker status was defined as drinking at least one whole drink in the prior 12 months. Heavy drinking level was defined using 5 variables, all past-12-months. These included (1) total volume from 5+ drinking sessions and (2) total volume from drinking sessions involving a 3–4-drink maximum, both derived from NAS graduated quantity-frequency (GF) measures (Greenfield, 2000b; Rehm et al., 1999). GF approaches assess frequency of drinking each of several quantities (here, 1, 2, 3–4, 5–8, 9–12, and 12+ drinks), and tend to yield more precise estimates of consumption than do typical frequency-quantity measures (Greenfield, 1998, 2000a; Hilton, 1989; Rehm et al., 1999). Additional indicators were (3) frequency of 5+ drinking, also derived from the GF and commonly used to identify individuals at risk for adverse health outcomes (National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, 2010), and (4) frequency of intoxication, measured with the item, “How often in the past year did you drink enough to feel drunk?”, itself a strong predictor of alcohol-related consequences and dependence symptoms (Greenfield, 1998; Midanik, 1999; Zemore, 2005). Last, we assessed (5) maximum drinks
