Until recently, alcohol abuse and dependence, as described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV; (American Psychiatric Association, 2000)), were the most studied problematic outcomes for the clinical consequences of alcohol consumption. As diagnostic measures, alcohol abuse or dependence were restricted to classifying individuals as “affected” or “unaffected” with little sensitivity for underlying profiles of endorsement of the 11 symptoms (7 for dependence and 4 for abuse) that were being used to describe alcohol-related behavior. Hence, especially when used as research outcomes, there was significant concern about DSM-IV diagnoses of abuse or dependence to (1) reflect individual differences with respect to the underlying constructs believed to be represented by the 11 symptoms that research showed is indicative of a single continuum (Hasin and Beseler, 2009, NRC, 2011), and (2) reflect differences in severity across all of the addiction domains (i.e., (a) a compulsion to seek and/or take alcohol, (b) loss of control over alcohol consumption, and (c) emergence of a negative emotional state) captured by the symptoms. Not surprising, recent studies and recommendations which arose out
