The Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (Bucholz et al. 1994; Hesselbrock et al. 1999) was adapted for telephone use in Australia and administered to participants by trained lay interviewers. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the interview. The institutional review boards of Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia approved the informed consent procedure.
