Notwithstanding these limitations, it is important to note that all of the continuous severity measures considered in this analysis, i.e., the weighted and simple counts of criteria and a simple count of symptoms, were more highly correlated with the validating measures than was a dichotomous measure of any AUD. This supports earlier findings by Hasin et al. (2006) that a continuous measure of dependence criteria yielded a better model fit than did either a categorical or threshold measure in models predicting family history of alcoholism, early age at onset of drinking and utilization of alcohol treatment. It also adds to arguments supporting inclusion of dimensional as well as categorical diagnostic measures in the upcoming fifth revision of the DSM (DSM-V) (Hasin and Beseler, 2009; Hasin et al., 2006; Helzer et al., 2006, 2007).
