Two other potential predictors of remission are worth mentioning. First, the diagnosis of alcohol abuse (versus dependence) was associated with initial, but not with sustained remission. Abuse (requiring one of four items) has a more easily fulfilled threshold than does dependence (requiring three of seven items). Also, from a clinical perspective, the abuse items may reflect consequences of drinking that are not closely linked to the dependence syndrome proposed by Edwards and Gross (1976). In addition, studies have reported that the probability of maintaining a diagnosis of abuse over time is lower than the probability of maintaining dependence (Hasin et al., 1997; Schuckit and Smith, 2011). These factors may have contributed to why an abuse diagnosis, as opposed to dependence, might indicate a greater probability for initial, but not sustained AUD remission as found in the current study.
