Research has generally supported the validity of an alcoholic course (Nelson, Heath & Kessler, 1998; Schuckit et al., 1995; Yeager, Piazza & Yates, 1992), with some modifications to Jellinek’s original proposal. For example, loss of control in drinking appears to occur earlier in the course than Jellinek had proposed (Yeager, et al., 1992). Importantly, as noted by Kahler et al. (2003), IRT holds potential for reliably measuring the developmental course of alcoholism in that IRT-derived measures could enhance both the utility of classifying alcoholics in terms of severity and the ability to distinguish individuals with dependence features from non-alcoholics experiencing multiple alcohol-related problems.
