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


METHODS
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).


CONCLUSIONS
The CCQ-Brief is a valid and reliable instrument that can be easily administered as a measure of current cocaine craving.
Sussner
Bradley D
BD
Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Veterans Affairs-New Jersey Health Care System, Lyons Campus Bldg. 143, 1521 Knollcroft Road, Lyons, NJ 07930-5000, USA. Bradley.Sussner@med.va.gov
Smelson
David A
DA
Rodrigues
Stephanie
S
Kline
Anna
A
Losonczy
Miklos
M
Ziedonis
Douglas
D
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003042:Cocaine