Detailed characteristics of participants in the placebo-controlled trial of sertraline for the treatment of alcohol dependence are presented elsewhere (Kranzler et al. 2011). Briefly, this was a 12-week, placebo-controlled trial in which we examined main and interaction effects of medication group, age of onset of alcohol dependence (≤ 25 years vs. > 25 years), and the tri-allelic 5-HTTLPR genotype (S′ carriers vs. L′ homozygotes) on drinking outcomes. A total of 134 patients (80.6% male; 34.3% EOAs) with DSM-IV alcohol dependence were treated with sertraline 200 mg/day (N=63) or matching placebo (N=71). A diagnosis of current (but not lifetime) major depressive disorder was exclusionary. All patients also received coping skills training, a structured, manual-guided, individual intervention.
