The Yale Craving Scale: Development and psychometric properties

Alana M Rojewski; Meghan E Morean; Benjamin A Toll; Sherry A McKee; Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin; Barry G Green; Linda M Bartoshuk; Stephanie S O'Malley

doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.06.040

The Yale Craving Scale: Development and psychometric properties

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015 Sep 1:154:158-66. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.06.040. Epub 2015 Jul 6.

Authors

Alana M Rojewski¹, Meghan E Morean², Benjamin A Toll³, Sherry A McKee⁴, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin⁵, Barry G Green⁶, Linda M Bartoshuk⁷, Stephanie S O'Malley⁸

Affiliations

¹ 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.
² 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.
³ 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.
⁴ Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 2 Church Street South, Suite 109, New Haven, CT 06519 USA.
⁵ Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, CMHC, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
⁶ 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.
⁷ The University of Florida, Food Science and Human Nutrition, 572 Newell Dr., P.O. Box 110370, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0370, USA.
⁸ 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.

Abstract

Introduction: 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.

Keywords: Alcohol; Craving; Measurement invariance; Nicotine; Reliability; Urge; Validity.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Alcoholism / diagnosis*
Alcoholism / psychology*
Craving*
Family Health
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales*
Psychometrics
Tobacco Use Disorder / diagnosis*
Tobacco Use Disorder / psychology*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding