Thus, the SRE has been important in advancing understanding of the role of alcohol sensitivity in the etiology of AUD. Nevertheless, the SRE suffers from some limitations. First, the scope of effects assessed by the SRE is small and consists primarily of sedation-like symptoms generally associated with large alcohol doses. Although its brevity likely reduces subject burden, this factor also likely limits the range of individuals for whom SRE scores fully reflect drinking experiences. This situation can result in fewer endorsed effects for some individuals than for others, which can produce skewed estimates of sensitivity level due to an inherent correlation between the number of effects endorsed and the number of drinks needed to experience them (Lee et al., 2015). On the other end of the severity spectrum, “feeling any different” is a relatively vague item that could be open to numerous interpretations, potentially limiting its utility (see Clark & Watson, 1995).
