EVALUATING CRAVING IN CRACK-COCAINE ABUSERS

The authors evaluated the psychometric properties of a 33-item Likert- scale questionnaire assessing subcomponents of craving in 77 crack-coc aine abusers. Split-half and test-retest correlations were moderate to strong, indicating good internal reliability. High correlations with traditional visual analog scale measures of drug thoughts and cravings (but not other symptoms) support the questionnaire's validity as a me asure of subjective craving. An exploratory factor analysis indicated that craving in these treatment-seeking crack-cocaine abusers is motiv ated both by the positive reinforcing properties of cocaine and by see king relief from negative symptoms. A previous study using a similar q uestionnaire found that craving in non-treatment-seeking drug users wa s motivated primarily by the desire and intention to use cocaine. The results support the notion that subcomponents of craving exist and may vary with motivational state (i.e., those in treatment vs. non-treatm ent-seekers).