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The development and initial validation of a questionnaire to measure craving for amphetamine
Darren James1, Gareth Davies, Paul Willner
1St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, UK. darren.james@cardiffandvale.wales.nhs.uk
Aim:
To develop and initially validate a multi-dimensional questionnaire to measure cravings for amphetamine (speed).
Design, Setting And Participants:
The design of the Desires for Speed Questionnaire (DSQ) was based on the Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire and was administered to 174 amphetamine users. Exploratory factor analyses were carried out on the data and relationships between questionnaire score and other variables were assessed. Further analyses were carried out to assess the sensitivity of the factor scores of the DSQ to various methods of amphetamine ingestion.
Findings:
Factor analysis revealed that a four-factor solution best described the data and that each of these factors were differentially sensitive to methods of amphetamine ingestion, with greater craving on all measures in intravenous amphetamine users. The factor structure identified from the present analysis was almost identical to that identified in recreational drinkers by Love et al. (1998).
Conclusions:
The results validate and extend the findings of the work of Love et al. (1998) and provide support for a multifactorial account of amphetamine craving.