title: The Yale Craving Scale: Development and psychometric properties.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The current study presents a psychometric evaluation of the Yale Craving Scale (YCS), a novel measure of craving for cigarettes and alcohol, respectively. The YCS is the first craving measure to use a generalized Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS) as the scoring format, which facilitates between-group comparisons of subjective craving and eliminates ceiling effects by assessing the full range of imaginable sensation intensities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Psychometric evaluations of the YCS for use with cigarettes (YCS Smoking) and alcohol (YCS Drinking) included assessments of latent factor structure, internal consistency, ceiling effects, and test-criterion relationships. Study samples included 493 treatment-seeking smokers and 213 heavy drinkers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Factor analyses of the 5-item YCS Smoking and Drinking scores confirmed a 1-factor scale. The YCS Smoking and Drinking scores evidenced: (1) good internal consistency, (2) scalar measurement invariance within several subgroups (e.g., smoking/drinking status; nicotine/alcohol dependence), (3) convergent relationships with extant craving measures, and (4) concurrent relationships with smoking/drinking outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the YCS represents a psychometrically sound scale for assessing smoking and drinking urges in dependent populations.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Public Health Sciences, 135 Cannon Street, MSC 835, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 1 Long Wharf Drive, Box 18, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
authors.forename: Alana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rojewski
authors.affiliation: Oberlin College, 120 W. Lorain St., Oberlin, OH 44074, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, CMHC, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA. Electronic address: meghan.morean@oberlin.edu.
authors.forename: Meghan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Morean
authors.affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Public Health Sciences, 135 Cannon Street, MSC 835, Charleston, SC 29425, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 1 Long Wharf Drive, Box 18, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Hollings Cancer Center, 86 Jonathan Lucas St, Charleston, SC 29425.
authors.forename: Benjamin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Toll
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 2 Church Street South, Suite 109, New Haven, CT 06519 USA.
authors.forename: Sherry A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McKee
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, CMHC, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
authors.forename: Suchitra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnan-Sarin
authors.affiliation: The John B. Pierce Laboratory, 290 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, 310 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
authors.forename: Barry G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: The University of Florida, Food Science and Human Nutrition, 572 Newell Dr., P.O. Box 110370, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0370, USA.
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bartoshuk
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, CMHC, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA; Yale Cancer Center, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: O'Malley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D066249:Craving; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Alcohol; Craving; Measurement invariance; Nicotine; Reliability; Urge; Validity