the DSM (Saha et al., 2006). It may reflect the fact that positive endorsement requires factors that are exogenous to the individual, e.g., apprehension and/or arrest, and whose likelihood may vary according to factors other than AUD severity. Legal problems aside, the severity rankings derived from the IRT analyses were strongly validated by this analysis, closely paralleling variation in AUD correlates that included four aspects of alcohol consumption in addition to mental/psychological functioning, family history of alcoholism, antisociality and early initiation of drinking.
