ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE CRITERIA IN DSM-III-R - PRESENCE OF SYMPTOMS ACCORDING TO DEGREE OF SEVERITY

According to DSM-III-R a positive diagnosis of alcohol dependence requires the presence of at least three of nine symptoms of a core dependence syndrome. In this study the presence of the nine symptoms according to degree of the severity of dependence is examined in 99 patients (mild, n = 23; moderate, n = 26; and severe, n = 50). It is shown that although the cut-off point for a positive diagnosis of dependence is the presence of ''any three'' out of nine DSM-III-R criteria, specific symptoms (''excessive drinking'', ''desire or efforts to control drinking'', and ''drinking despite major problems'') have a high probability of occurrence across the dependence severity range (mild, moderate or severe). Conversely, other symptoms appear prominently only in the more severe cases (''much time devoted to alcohol'', ''important activities given up''. and ''drinking to relieve withdrawal''). The results suggest that in the DSM-III-R criteria for alcohol dependence some symptoms are more frequently associated with the diagnosis, while other symptoms are associated with severity of the alcohol dependence disorder.