Data were gathered for the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a multicenter family study in the U.S. COGA examines individuals with alcohol dependence recruited from treatment centers (probands), first degree relatives of these individuals, as well as non-alcohol dependent comparison families recruited through various population sources (e.g., motor vehicle registration). COGA investigators have created several datasets from various studies. For the current analysis, we examined a cohort of children who were on average age 9.4 years at enrollment (range 7–14 years) and who were reassessed approximately five years later, with all reassessments occurring prior to reaching age 18. Individuals who were not reassessed at 5 years, approximately 22%, were excluded from analyses. At least one biological parent to the children (i.e., adult COGA participant) was also interviewed around the time of the baseline assessment. The cohort was assembled between 1991 and 1998 and the follow-ups were completed between 1997 and 2004. An exemption from the University of Rochester IRB was granted to perform these secondary analyses of de-identified COGA data.
