The primary sample for the present study was pooled from two large, nationally representative and publicly-available US surveys: the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiological Survey (NLAES), conducted in 1991–92 (Grant et al, 1994), and the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), wave 1, conducted in 2001–02 (Grant et al, 2003). Both were face-to-face surveys using similar sampling designs and survey measures, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census under supervision of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. NLAES sampled 42,862 subjects drawn from the adult, non-institutionalized, civilian population of the 48 contiguous United States and the District of Columbia, with over-samples of Blacks and of persons 18 to 29 years old, and with a household-response rate of 91.9 percent. NESARC interviewed 43,093 respondents drawn from a sampling frame that included adult, non-institutionalized civilians in all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) with over-samples of Blacks and Hispanics, and of respondents aged 18 to 24 years old; the household response rate was 89 percent. Both sampling frames included military personnel living off base and residents
