Over the past decade, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have advanced our understanding of alcohol use disorders (AUDs)(1). Many of these studies have relied on a categorical approach to AUD phenotypes, comparing clinically-ascertained cases and controls (e.g., 2), but recent studies have increasingly employed a complementary approach leveraging dimensional measures of alcohol consumption and screener-based AUD symptoms in population-based cohorts (e.g., 3–6). Often, these dimensional measures can more easily be administered at scale via self-report questionnaires than can clinical diagnostic measures, thereby accelerating genetic discovery through drastic increases in sample size. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)(7), a ten-item questionnaire that screens for drinking habits and problems by measuring aspects of alcohol use and misuse in the past year, is one such measure. A recent GWAS meta-analysis of AUD and AUDIT phenotypes identified 29 novel loci (5), representing one of the biggest advances of AUD genetics to date (2–4, 6).
