One benefit of the new guidelines is that individuals previously considered “diagnostic orphans” – those endorsing two dependence criteria but no abuse criteria – will be included in the new AUD diagnosis. Consistent with Agrawal et al. (2011), the most commonly endorsed dependence criteria among these new cases were “loss of control” and “trying to cut down”. In addition, those endorsing only a single abuse criterion (typically hazardous use), and who are presumed to have a low level of problems, will no longer be diagnosed with an alcohol problem. The exclusion of the LP criterion from the new guidelines does not substantially affect changes in prevalence (only N=62 individuals were given an AA diagnosis due only to their endorsement of that criterion). Though we were unable to evaluate the consequences of adding an item addressing craving, previous studies suggest this addition does not significantly inflate prevalence (e.g., Agrawal et al., 2011; Keyes et al., 2011). Given the modest change in prevalence under different DSM criteria, and particularly the quite minor effects of the “loss” of individuals who endorsed only the
