There is limited information on the validity of DSM-IV alcohol use disorders (AUDs) symptom criteria during the developmental period spanning ages 12–23 years (Martin and Winters, 1998). One way to examine the validity of the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders is to investigate the factor structure of the diagnostic criteria. Several studies have investigated the factor structure of AUD symptom criteria in clinical populations and epidemiological samples. All of these studies used samples of adult populations ages 18 years and older. Regardless of whether DSM-III-R or DSM-IV criteria were used, those studies consistently indicated the presence of two correlated but distinct factors (Grant et al., 2007; Harford and Muthén, 2001; Muthén, 1995). By contrast, more recent FA studies with adolescents and adults (Langenbucher et al., 2004; Martin et al., 2006) failed to support the DSM-IV conceptions of abuse and dependence, favoring instead findings derived from IRT analyses of the more parsimonious single-factor model.
