For each gender-age group, item thresholds and item discrimination for the 11 AUD criteria are shown in table 3 and the IRCs are shown in figure 2. Among males in each age group, tolerance, time spent, and hazardous use have relatively lower thresholds, and withdrawal, larger amounts, cut down, and legal problems have relatively higher thresholds. In contrast to the 26 and older age group, which was most likely to endorse time spent and least likely to endorse legal problems, the 12–17 age group was most likely to endorse tolerance and least likely to endorse cut down. The overall IRCs are more spread out in the 12–17 and 18–25 age groups compared to the 26 and older age group. The symptom criteria for tolerance, time spent, and hazardous use tap into the lower end of AUD severity in the 12–17 and 18–25 age groups, and their IRCs are well separated from the rest. In contrast, the symptom criteria give up activities, role obligation, psychological/physical problems, and social problems tend to have their IRCs intertwined with one another in the middle
