Data were drawn from a prospective high-risk study on family history of alcoholism (FH) and other correlates of alcoholism (see Sher, Walitzer, Wood, & Brent, 1991, for a full description of the study). The baseline sample comprised 489 first-year college students (46% male, mean age = 18.2 years) from a large midwestern university. On the basis of criteria discussed below, half (51%) of the respondents were classified as FH positive (FH+). Respondents were prospectively assessed seven times over 16 years (roughly at ages 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 29, and 35 years old) by both interview and paper-and-pencil questionnaire. In all, over 84% of participants were retained over the first 11 years of the study, and over 78% were retained through Year 16 (mean age = 34.5 years).
