timated to be 0.3% among 12- to 17-year-ol ds and 0.2% among adults age 18 years and
older. Rates of DSM-IV sedative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic use disorder are slightly greater
among adult males (0.3%) than among adult fe males, but for 12- to 17-year-olds, the rate
for females (0.4%) exceeds that for males (0.2%). The 12-month prevalence of DSM-IV
sedative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic use disorder decreases as a function of age and is great-
est among 18- to 29-year-olds (0.5%) and lo west among individuals 65 years and older
(0.04%).
Twelve-month prevalence of se dative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic  use disorder varies across
racial/ethnic subgroups of the U.S. population . For 12- to 17-year-olds, rates are greatest
among whites (0.3%) relative to African Amer icans (0.2%), Hispanics (0.2%), Native Amer-
icans (0.1%), and Asian Americans and Pacifi c Islanders (0.1%). Among adults, 12-month
prevalence is greatest amon g Native Americans and Alaska Natives (0.8%), with rates of
approximately 0.2% among African Americans, whites, and Hispanics and 0.1% among
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Development and Course
The usual course of sedative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic use disorder involves individuals in
their teens or 20s who escalate  their occasional use of seda tive, hypnotic, or anxiolytic
agents to the point at which they develop prob lems that meet criteria  for a diagnosis. This