Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC)[1;2] and from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing [3] suggested that there is evidence of a single dimension trait for alcohol abuse and dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition [4;5], but the current symptom items do not tap well into the less severe range of the alcohol disorder continuum. A good candidate to cover this part of the spectrum could be measures of alcohol consumption. Using data from the NESARC, Saha [6] concluded that “DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence criteria formed a continuum of alcohol use disorder severity along with drinking 5+/4+ at least once a week in the past year criterion”. That is, five or more drinks per occasion for males and four or more for females (5+/4+) at least once a week in the past year when introduced with others symptoms of the current DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence in an Item Response Theory analysis (IRT) tapped into the mildest range of the alcohol use
