Evaluation of the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) Framework through Deep Phenotyping of Problem Drinkers

Abstract Background To advance the development of a neuroscience-informed understanding of alcohol use disorder (AUD) through the Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) framework, the present study reports on deep phenotyping of a large sample of problem drinkers. Methods Participants (n = 1,679) were primarily heavy drinkers with and without AUD, who completed a phenotypic battery of well-validated scales and behavioral measures of alcohol use and problems, mood, attention, and impulsivity. These scales were subjected to sequential factor analytic work in order to derive a factor solution that explains biobehavioral variation in the sample. To assess the construct validity of the resulting factor solution, scores on each factor were associated with demographic and clinical indicators. Results Factor analysis techniques using indicators of alcohol use and problems, mood, attention, and impulsivity implicated four functional domains that compliment and extend the proposed ANA domains: negative alcohol-related consequences, incentive salience, negative emotionality, and executive function. Demographic and clinical variables significantly predicted scores on all ANA domains. Conclusions This study provides an independent test of the recently proposed neuroscience-based ANA framework. Results largely support the novel approach in identifying four core constructs in problem drinkers. Future studies can deepen our understanding of how these domains are relevant to AUD by incorporating biomarkers.