The Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA; Bucholz et al., 1994; Bucholz et al., 1995) was used to assess alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms. The SSAGA has shown high reliability and validity in diagnosing alcohol dependence and has good inter-rater reliability for individual alcohol criteria (Bucholz et al., 1994; Bucholz et al., 1995; Hesselbrock et al., 1999). The current study uses lifetime abuse and dependence criteria based on DSM-IV definitions (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Two criteria, legal problems and time spent, were strictly operationalized in the interview . The dependence criterion for spending “a great deal of time … in activities necessary to obtain the substance or recover from its effects” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 181) was coded positive for respondents who answered “yes” to the question “Has there ever been a period of several days or more when you spent so much time drinking or recovering from the effects of alcohol that you had little time for anything else?” and also reported 3 or more such periods or a period lasting at least one month. The
