A comparison of two alcohol craving questionnaires

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Addiction Research
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Assessing alcohol craving is crucial for understanding and treating alcohol use disorders.
• Existing multi-dimensional questionnaires, such as the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire (ACQ) and the Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire (DAQ), aim to quantify these urges.
• Comparing the psychometric properties of these instruments is essential for selecting the most effective research tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire (ACQ) and the Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire (DAQ) in measuring alcohol cravings and urges.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties and clinical utility of both questionnaires.

Main Methods:

• Two multi-dimensional questionnaires, ACQ and DAQ, were administered to 380 recreational drinkers in a counterbalanced order.
• A shortened DAQ version was tested on 131 drinkers in AA or treatment centers.
• Exploratory factor analyses were conducted, and questionnaire scores were correlated with other variables.

Main Results:

• Both ACQ and DAQ exhibited a three-factor structure in recreational drinkers.
• The DAQ showed superior performance with more reliable factors, higher variance explained, and better discrimination between binge/non-binge and excessive/moderate drinkers.
• The DAQ also demonstrated a similar factor structure in alcoholic subjects, including a "controllability" factor.

Conclusions:

• The findings support a multifactorial model of alcohol craving.
• The Desires for Alcohol Questionnaire (DAQ) offers advantages over the Alcohol Craving Questionnaire (ACQ) as a research instrument for assessing alcohol urges.