All three parent studies used modified versions of the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA, Bucholz et al., 1994) to assess substance use disorders with good validity (Hesselbrock, Easton, Bucholz, Schuckit, & Hesselbrock, 1999) and reliability (Bucholz et al., 1994). Alcohol craving was evaluated with a single item. In COGA and COGEND, the item queried “In situations where you could not drink alcohol, did you ever have such a strong desire for it that you couldn’t think of anything else?” In FSCD, the item queried “Have you ever had such a strong craving for alcohol that you couldn’t think of anything else?” DSM-IV alcohol dependence was defined by the clustering of 3 or more dependence criteria in a 12 month period. Note that, consistent with DSM-IV, craving was not utilized as a criterion to diagnose DSM-IV alcohol dependence.
