These studies have contributed a considerable body of knowledge, establishing or confirming, among other findings, that alcohol abuse, as defined in the Fourth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), can persist for many years without necessarily progressing to dependence (Vaillant, 2003) and that a considerable number of individuals transition from alcohol dependence to a less severe status over time (Jacob et al., 2009; Knott et al., 2018; Valiant, 2003). Nevertheless, much remains to be learned about the antecedents and effects of later life drinking. The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) has interviewed a large number of subjects from both high-risk and comparison families (Begleiter et al., 1995; Edenberg and Foroud, 2006). A follow-up of older adults from this project has the potential to contribute knowledge in several ways, by: a) incorporating a sample of subjects from high-risk families, which are not well represented in existing longitudinal investigations; b) targeting not only alcohol consumption, symptoms, and treatment, but a variety of other alcohol-relevant outcomes, such as depression and impaired cognitive functioning; and c) identifying young
