The validity and reliability of a brief measure of cocaine craving.

INTRODUCTION

Although craving plays an important role in relapse, there are few brief, valid and reliable instruments to measure the desire to use cocaine in routine clinical practice. The 45-item Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-Now (CCQ-Now) is widely used in research, but its length makes its use in everyday clinical work relatively impractical. This study sought to determine the psychometric properties of the CCQ-Brief, a measure composed of 10 items from the CCQ-Now, in treatment-seeking cocaine abusers.

METHOD: Subjects with cocaine abuse or dependence (n=247) completed the CCQ-Brief, the CCQ-Now, the Voris Cocaine Craving Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Addiction Severity Index.

RESULTS

The CCQ-Brief was significantly correlated with the CCQ-Now (r=.85, p<.01), the CCQ-Now with the items in common with the CCQ-Brief removed (r=.78, p<.01), all four subscales of the VCCS (craving intensity: r=.47, p<.01; mood: r=.27, p<.01; energy: r=.30, p<.01; sick feelings: r=.28, p<.01), the BDI-II (r=.39, p<.01), the BAI (r=.35, p<.01) and recent drug use (r=.26, p<.01). The internal consistency of the CCQ-Brief was strong (alpha=.90).

DISCUSSION: The CCQ-Brief is a valid and reliable instrument that can be easily administered as a measure of current cocaine craving.