Reliability and validity of a short form of the Marijuana Craving Questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
The Marijuana Craving Questionnaire (MCQ) is a valid and reliable, 47-item self-report instrument that assesses marijuana craving along four dimensions: compulsivity, emotionality, expectancy, and purposefulness. For use in research and clinical settings, we constructed a 12-item version of the MCQ by selecting three items from each of the four factors that exhibited the greatest within-factor internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient).


METHODS
Adult marijuana users (n=490), who had made at least one serious attempt to quit marijuana use but were not seeking treatment, completed the MCQ-Short Form (MCQ-SF) in a single session.


RESULTS
Confirmatory factor analysis of the MCQ-SF indicated good fit with the 4-factor MCQ model, and the coefficient of congruence indicated moderate similarity in factor patterns and loadings between the MCQ and MCQ-SF. Homogeneity (unidimensionality and internal consistency) of MCQ-SF factors was also consistent with reliability values obtained in the initial validation of the MCQ.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings of psychometric fidelity indicate that the MCQ-SF is a reliable and valid measure of the same multidimensional aspects of marijuana craving as the MCQ in marijuana users not seeking treatment.
Heishman
Stephen J
SJ
Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. heishman@nih.gov
Evans
Rebecca J
RJ
Singleton
Edward G
EG
Levin
Kenneth H
KH
Copersino
Marc L
ML
Gorelick
David A
DA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005006:Ethnicity; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult