Limitations of the study include the use of a family study with a high genetic loading for alcohol dependence, which means that these results may not generalize to other samples that are not high-risk. Heightened risk for social and environmental adversity that often accompany familial risk for alcohol dependence, such as childhood trauma, may not generalize to other samples. Variation in abuse/dependence status in the non-DUI group may have obscured some distinctions that might have become apparent with further stratification by abuse and dependence status. However, because our aim was to examine AUD criteria functioning in individuals with versus those without DUIs, regardless of AUD status and consistent with current findings of a continuum of alcohol problem severity, we elected not to stratify the data further.
