Although we have focused these analyses on self-reports of drunkenness, as an index of high risk drinking behavior, we note that this measure correlated highly with other indices of drinking that were assessed, including frequency of drinking any alcoholic beverages (r = 0.69) and frequency of drinking 5 or more drinks in a 24 hour period (r = 0.83). The trajectory analyses of GABRA2 yielded parallel results with these other indices of drinking, providing further support for the robustness of the effect, and alleviating concern that may exist about the subjective nature of what constitutes “drunkenness”.
