Heroin and cocaine craving and use during treatment: measurement validation and potential relationships

J Subst Abuse Treat. 2006 Dec;31(4):355-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2006.05.009. Epub 2006 Aug 1.

Abstract

Although commonly assessed with unidimensional scales, craving has been suggested to be multifaceted and to have a complex relationship with drug use and relapse. This study assessed the consistency and predictive validity of unidimensional and multidimensional craving scales. At the beginning of a 12-week outpatient treatment trial, opiate users (n = 101) and cocaine users (n = 72) completed unidimensional visual analog scales (VASs) assessing "want," "need," and "craving" and multidimensional 14- and 45-item versions of the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ) or Heroin Craving Questionnaire (HCQ). Spearman correlations between the VASs and the first-order factors from the 45-item CCQ/HCQ were .20-.40, suggesting that the two types of assessment were not redundant. Treatment dropout and in-treatment drug use were more frequently predicted by scores on the 14- or 45-item CCQ than by VAS ratings. Results suggest that the CCQ/HCQ and the 14-item CCQ provide information that unidimensional VASs do not.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Ambulatory Care
  • Cocaine / adverse effects*
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / diagnosis
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / epidemiology
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders / rehabilitation*
  • Female
  • Heroin / adverse effects*
  • Heroin Dependence / diagnosis
  • Heroin Dependence / epidemiology
  • Heroin Dependence / rehabilitation*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Motivation*
  • Pain Measurement / statistics & numerical data
  • Patient Dropouts / psychology
  • Patient Dropouts / statistics & numerical data
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Recurrence
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Self Efficacy
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Substance Abuse Detection / statistics & numerical data
  • Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / diagnosis
  • Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / psychology
  • Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / rehabilitation*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Treatment Refusal / psychology
  • Treatment Refusal / statistics & numerical data

Substances

  • Heroin
  • Cocaine