In line with average lower rates of use by African Americans compared to European Americans, a few studies have shown lower lifetime rates of alcohol dependence among African Americans compared to European Americans (Anthony, Warner, & Kessler, 1994; Gilman et al., 2008; Schmidt, Greenfield, & Bond, 2007). However, there have also been reports of no differences in alcohol dependence between the groups (Caetano, Baruah, & Chartier, 2011; Grant et al., 2004; Kandel, Chen, Warner, Kessler, & Grant, 1997) and most studies have found higher rates of dependence symptoms (Caetano, 1997; Caetano & Clark, 1998b; Caetano & Kaskutas, 1995; Herd, 1994a; Midanik & Clark, 1995; Mulia et al., 2009). The reason for discrepancies in comparative levels of alcohol dependence rates are unclear, and do not appear to be due to the quality of the studies, given that most are drawn from nationally representative samples. However, discrepancies may be, at least partially, due to the recentness of the data collected. Studies examining trends in prevalence of DSM alcohol dependence document that over the past decades, rates of alcohol dependence has either remained
