The Yale Craving Scale: Development and psychometric properties

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.

Publisher

Elsevier

Publication Date

9-1-2015

Publication Title

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.06.040

Keywords

Nicotine, Alcohol, Craving, Testing measurement invariance, Compulsive drinking scale, Initial validation, Alcohol dependence, Smoking cessation, Controlled trial, Family history

Language

English

Format

text

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