Criteria Definitions and Network Relations: The Importance of Criterion Thresholds

Across various structured diagnostic instruments, the criteria used to diagnose alcohol use disorder (AUD) are not assessed consistently. For example, different instruments often pose questions that reflect different thresholds of the underlying symptoms. We consider the criteria for craving and the inability to cut down or stop drinking to demonstrate the influence of using different thresholds for a positive symptom endorsement with respect to the estimated edges of a symptom network. Results indicate that the utilization of these differing thresholds leads to significant differences in edge weights. Generally, higher thresholds relate more strongly to lower prevalence rate criteria, and the reverse for lower thresholds. These findings have implications for reproducibility of effects in symptom networks and their generalization across studies.