Our results suggest some demographic factors impart general vulnerability and others may be specific to subtypes of psychiatric comorbidity. Male gender was associated with AUD and SUD-CD comorbidity profiles. The association between male gender and AUD and SUD-CD classes, but not the AUD-MDD-ANX class, is in line with a considerable literature demonstrating males are more likely to have lifetime alcohol abuse/dependence, poly-substance abuse/dependence and conduct disorder (Kessler et al., 2005; Huang et al., 2006) and less likely to experience lifetime depression and anxiety disorders (Kessler et al., 2005). Whether this reflects differential exposure, as opposed to differential vulnerability, is beyond the scope of this report but is worthy of further investigation.
