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The Craving Experience Questionnaire: a brief, theory‐based measure of consummatory desire and craving
Author(s) -
May Jon,
Andrade Jackie,
Kavanagh David J.,
Feeney Gerald F. X.,
Gullo Mathew J.,
Statham Dixie J.,
SkorkaBrown Jessica,
Connolly Jennifer M.,
Cassimatis Mandy,
Young Ross McD.,
Connor Jason P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/add.12472
Subject(s) - craving , psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , intrusiveness , structural equation modeling , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , addiction , psychiatry , statistics , mathematics
Background and Aims Research into craving is hampered by lack of theoretical specification and a plethora of substance‐specific measures. This study aimed to develop a generic measure of craving based on elaborated intrusion ( EI ) theory. C onfirmatory factor analysis ( CFA ) examined whether a generic measure replicated the three‐factor structure of the A lcohol C raving E xperience ( ACE ) scale over different consummatory targets and time‐frames. Design Twelve studies were pooled for CFA . Targets included alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate and food. Focal periods varied from the present moment to the previous week. Separate analyses were conducted for strength and frequency forms. Setting Nine studies included university students, with single studies drawn from an internet survey, a community sample of smokers and alcohol‐dependent out‐patients. Participants A heterogeneous sample of 1230 participants. Measurements Adaptations of the ACE questionnaire. Findings Both craving strength [comparative fit indices ( CFI = 0.974; root mean square error of approximation ( RMSEA) = 0.039, 95% confidence interval ( CI ) = 0.035–0.044] and frequency ( CFI = 0.971, RMSEA = 0.049, 95% CI = 0.044–0.055) gave an acceptable three‐factor solution across desired targets that mapped onto the structure of the original ACE (intensity, imagery, intrusiveness), after removing an item, re‐allocating another and taking intercorrelated error terms into account. Similar structures were obtained across time‐frames and targets. Preliminary validity data on the resulting 10‐item C raving E xperience Q uestionnaire ( CEQ ) for cigarettes and alcohol were strong. Conclusions The Craving Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) is a brief, conceptually grounded and psychometrically sound measure of desires. It demonstrates a consistent factor structure across a range of consummatory targets in both laboratory and clinical contexts.