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This study examines the improvement in validity coefficients and structural relationships derived from formally modeling latent variables of adverse alcohol-related constructs. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis of responses from 8,755 participants in the 1988 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse support a three-factor model of alcohol abuse, dependence, and adverse consequences. A comparison of construct intercorrelations shows latent variables to be superior to measurement approaches using unweighted sums, quantity x frequency calculation, and single-item measurement.