were recruited by phone screens of families identified through reverse directory searches based on identified COAs. Control families matched COA families on the basis of ethnicity, family composition, target child’s sex and age and socioeconomic status. Direct interview data confirmed that neither biological nor custodial parents met criteria for a lifetime alcoholism diagnosis. Recruitment biases have been found to be minimal (Chassin, Barrera, Bech, & Kossak-Fuller, 1992; Chassin et al., 1991). Although contact rates were low (38.3% from archival records and 44.2% from reverse directories), participation rates were high (72.8% of eligible COA families and 77.3% of eligible control families participated). No recruitment biases were found for alcoholism indicators (available in archival data), although lower participation rates among lower socio-economic status and Hispanic families were found.
