Validation study of the Turkish version of the craving typology questionnaire (CTQ) in male alcohol-dependent patients

Abstract

Objective: Alcohol craving is considered a core symptom of alcohol use disorder and a strong predictor of relapse in alcohol-dependent adults. The Craving Typology Questionnaire (CTQ) allows dimensional selfrating assessment of craving according to a three-pathway psychobiological model of craving (reward, relief, and obsessive craving). Aim of the present study was to evaluate psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the CTQ in a sample of inpatients and outpatients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Method: Participants included 157 inpatients and outpatients with AUD. Participants were evaluated with the CTQ and the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS), which includes items to evaluate both total craving and its obsessive and compulsive components. Results: The obsessive, relief, and reward craving components accounted for 27.91%, 8.17% and 7.23% of total variance, respectively. Items 7 and 8 were included in obsessive craving and item 10 was included in relief craving instead of reward craving. Obsessive craving had a Cronbach's a of 0.87, whereas the coefficients were 0.64 for relief craving and 0.42 for reward craving. Items were moderately correlated with their subscales. All types of craving were moderately correlated with OCDS and the obsessive dimension of OCDS, whereas they were mildly correlated with the compulsion dimension of OCDS. Conclusion: Our findings confirm the Turkish version of the CPQ to be a reliable and valid instrument that measures three dimensions of craving among patients with AUD.