First, similar to other recent studies conducted in general population samples, we found no evidence for a telescoping effect for women (Keyes et al., 2010; Lopez-Quintero et al. in press; Wagner and Anthony, 2007). While White, Black, and Hispanic women in our study were older than men of the same race/ethnicity at onset of alcohol use, they did not progress to dependence in a shorter time period than men. These results are in concert with a recent study by Keyes and colleagues (2010) that combined data from both the NESARC and the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey, which was conducted ten years earlier. In that study, not only was there an absence of a telescoping effect for women, but men progressed to dependence at a faster rate than women. In our sample, there were no sex differences in time to progression to alcohol dependence for Whites, Blacks or Hispanics. One potential explanation for their finding of a faster transition to dependence for men is the fact that the Keyes study did not include alcohol consumption as a covariate. In our
