COMORBIDITY BETWEEN DSM-IV ALCOHOL-USE DISORDERS AND MAJOR DEPRESSION- RESULTS OF A NATIONAL SURVEY

The purpose of this study was to describe detailed patterns of comorbi dity between Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - F ourth Edition (DSM-IV) alcohol use disorders and major depression usin g a representative sample of the United States. Comorbidity rates and associations between DSM-IV alcohol use disorders and major depression were expressed as odds ratios with confidence intervals adjusted for the complex design characteristics of the NLAES. Comorbidity analyses were presented by sex, ethnicity and age for past year, prior to past year and lifetime diagnoses. Virtually all odds ratios were significan tly greater than 1.0, demonstrating that comorbidity of alcohol use di sorders and major depression is pervasive in the general population. T he magnitude of the association remained stable across the three time frames but diagnostic and subgroup variations in comorbidity were note d. The association between alcohol dependence and major depression was greater than the association between abuse and major depression and t he association between alcohol abuse and major depression was consiste ntly greater for females and blacks, compared to their male and non-bl ack counterparts. Implications of the results are discussed in terms o f professional help seeking, the self-medication hypothesis, and diffe rential social control theory.