The gambling craving experience questionnaire: Psychometric properties of a new scale based on the elaborated intrusion theory of desire

Imagine chocolate: The craving experience questionnaire in the food domain

Measurement of food craving has gained relevance in the current obesity epidemic. The Craving Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) considers not only craving intensity but also cognitive intrusiveness and imagery vividness as separate craving factors and could thus refine food craving assessment. It is available in two versions with ten items each. The CEQ-F assesses craving frequency across specific time periods and the CEQ-S time-point specific craving strength. Across three independent studies, N = 533 participants completed the German chocolate CEQ-F referenced at the past year to operationalise trait-like craving. Among them, N = 402 also completed the German chocolate CEQ-S referenced at the current moment to operationalise state-like craving. Four-week test-retest reliability was measured. For external validity, we assessed self-reported chocolate consumption, body-mass-index, trait approach motivation, general imagery vividness, and the most widely used food craving questionnaire, namely the Food Cravings Questionnaires in a trait (FCQ-T-r) and state version (FCQ-S), as well as behavioural approach bias (reaction time-based measurement). The three-factor structure was replicated with excellent internal consistency for both CEQ-F and CEQ-S. Test-retest reliability was moderate for both CEQ versions. CEQ-F scores were related to higher levels of chocolate consumption, approach motivation, and FCQ-T-r scores, but not to body-mass-index, imagery vividness, or approach bias. CEQ-S scores were associated with FCQ-S scores and partly with approach bias, but not with approach motivation and imagery vividness. The current results support the factor structure, validity and reliability of the German chocolate CEQ-S and CEQ-F with questions remaining regarding the ability of the CEQ-S to measure state craving. Thus, CEQ-F and CEQ-S usefully contribute to food craving assessment.

Strength of Pornography Craving Experience (PCE-S): Psychometric properties of a new measure based on the elaborated intrusion theory of desire

INTRODUCTION

Pornography use is a common sexual activity with potentially addictive use in some people. Even though craving is being recognized as an important characteristic of addictive behaviors, there is a lack of a specific validated instrument measuring the pornography craving experience. The present study aimed at adapting and validating an instrument measuring the users' strength of pornography craving experience (PCE-S) based on the Elaborated Intrusion theory of desire.

METHODS

Items from the "strength" form of the Craving Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) were adapted to pornography use and used to create the PCE-S. The PCE-S was then administered online to 1584 English-speaking cyberporn users aged 18-75 years old (M = 33.18; SD = 10.84]; 63.1 % male, 35.2 % female, and 1.7 % non-binary). All participants completed an assessment of compulsive cyberporn use (CIUS adapted for cyberporn). Confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) was used to examine the construct structure validity; Cronbach alpha coefficient, corrected item-total correlation, regression, and discriminant analysis were used to assess the instrument's psychometric properties.

RESULTS

After using the modification indices to improve the initial model, a relatively good fit for the three-factor model was confirmed. Concurrent validity with the compulsive cyberporn use (CCU) measure was demonstrated. The PCE-S discriminated between participants with high CCU and those with low CCU scores.

CONCLUSIONS

A specific pornography craving experience instrument scale, based on the Elaborated Intrusion theory of desire seems to capture key constructs of the theory and correlate with measures of compulsive cyberporn use.

Measuring craving: A systematic review and mapping of assessment instruments. What about sexual craving?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Craving is central in the definition of addictive disorders because of its diagnostic and prognostic value. Its measurement is essential in clinical practice. Previous reviews provided a better overview of existing instruments; however, they do not consider emerging substances and behaviors such as sexual addictions. Our objectives were threefold: (1) to provide a systematic review of craving assessment instruments and their psychometric characteristics within a transdiagnostic approach, (2) to highlight and map their conceptual relationships and (3) to identify potential sexual craving assessment instruments.

METHODS

The review was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology. The PubMed, Embase, PsychInfo and Cochrane/Central databases were searched for publications that met the following inclusion criterion: validation studies of craving assessment instruments, regardless of target substance or behavior. The original search identified 4561 references and included 147 articles. Each selected study was a peer-reviewed publication.

RESULTS

This review provides a synthesis of the psychometric properties of 36 original instruments and identified 93 variations of these instruments (e.g. translations). We were able to highlight five transdiagnostic families of instruments, each corresponding to a conceptual model. Only one instrument for assessing craving in the domain of compulsive sexual behavior, focused on pornography use, has been identified: the Pornography Craving Questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

This review mapped all craving assessment instruments from a transdiagnostic perspective, finding 36 original instruments and 93 variations. The evolution of instruments to measure craving mirrors the evolution of the concept of craving which has progressively integrated cognitive, conditioning and sensory dimensions, and attests to the importance of the context of assessment. Development of an instrument to measure 'sexual craving' is needed and could be based on the data from our review.

The fear in desire: linking desire thinking and fear of missing out in the social media context

According to the Elaborated Intrusion Theory of Desire, desire thinking and an associated deficit are fundamental factors to the emergence of craving. In the special case of problematic social networking sites (SNS) use, this experienced deficit could be constituted of an online-specific fear of missing out (FoMO). To test the interaction of these cognitions and their influence on problematic SNS use, we tested a serial mediation model on a sample of N = 193 individuals who use SNS (73% female, M_age = 28.3, SD = 9.29). We found that desire thinking predicted FoMO and both variables were only significant predictors of problematic SNS use when considered in interplay with craving. Ad hoc analyses revealed that the verbal subcomponent of desire thinking is more strongly associated with FoMO than imaginal prefiguration. Our results highlight that neither desire thinking nor FoMO are inherently dysfunctional but become problematic when they increase craving for potentially problematic SNS use.

A Comparative Event-Related Potentials Study between Alcohol Use Disorder, Gambling Disorder and Healthy Control Subjects through a Contextual Go/NoGo Task

(1) Background: Inhibitory and rewarding processes that mediate attentional biases to addiction-related cues may slightly differ between patients suffering from alcohol use (AUD) or gambling (GD) disorder. (2) Methods: 23 AUD inpatients, 19 GD patients, and 22 healthy controls performed four separate Go/NoGo tasks, in, respectively, an alcohol, gambling, food, and neutral long-lasting cueing context during the recording of event-related potentials (ERPs). (3) Results: AUD patients showed a poorer inhibitory performance than controls (slower response latencies, lower N2d, and delayed P3d components). In addition, AUD patients showed a preserved inhibitory performance in the alcohol-related context (but a more disrupted one in the food-related context), while GD patients showed a specific inhibitory deficit in the game-related context, both indexed by N2d amplitude modulations. (4) Conclusions: Despite sharing common addiction-related mechanisms, AUD and GD patients showed different patterns of response to (non-)rewarding cues that should be taken into account in the therapeutic context.

"I see myself": Craving imagery among individuals with addictive disorders

Craving has been put forward as a core feature of addictive disorders.

The present qualitative study investigated the experience of craving among individuals with addictive disorders and recent experiences of cravings.

Eleven individuals with Gambling Disorder and ten with Alcohol Use Disorder (n = 21) were recruited. A semi-structured interview explored: (1) modes of thought during craving (mental imagery or verbal thoughts), (2) craving content, (3) coping strategies and (4) craving context.

The thematic analysis showed that cravings were initially dominated by imagery, with a subsequent conflict between imagery and verbal thoughts. Craving content included imagery of preparative rituals, anticipation, and sensory activation, imagery of the addictive behavior "me, there and then imagery" and anticipating that "something good will come out of it." Some participants related to craving as a symptom of sickness, and coping with craving were through distraction, reminding oneself of negative consequences, or via sensory control: avoiding stimuli associated with the addiction. Craving contexts included typical settings of drinking or gambling and engagement of both positive and negative emotions. Alcohol craving was described as an expected relief from internal stimuli, such as anxiety or stress, whereas gambling craving was more often described as an expectancy of financial reward.

Craving was experienced mainly through imagery containing the preparative routines and expected outcomes. Future research and clinical practice should incorporate mode of thought in cravings to better understand its role in the maintenance of the disorders and their treatment.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10550887.2022.2058299 .

How to pin a compulsive behavior down: A systematic review and conceptual synthesis of compulsivity-sensitive items in measures of behavioral addiction

Experimental models identify the transition from choice to compulsivity as the main mechanism underlying addiction. In behavioral addictions research, however, the adjective compulsive is used to describe virtually any kind of excessive or dysregulated behavior, which hinders the connection between experimental and clinical models. In this systematic review, we adopted a preliminary definition of compulsive behavior based on previous theoretical work. Subsequently, a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted (a) to identify the validated instruments, currently used in behavioral addictions research, that include items that are sensitive (intendedly or not) to compulsivity, and (b) to categorize those items into differentiable operationalizations of compulsivity. Six operationalizations of compulsivity emerged from item content analysis: 1. Automatic or habitual behavior occurring in absence of conscious instrumental goals; 2. Behavior insensitive to negative consequences despite conscious awareness of them; 3. Overwhelming urge or desire that impels the individual to initiate the activity and jeopardizes control attempts; 4. Bingeing, or inability to stop or interrupt the activity once initiated, resulting in an episode substantially longer or more intense than intended; 5. Attentional capture and cognitive hijacking; and 6. Inflexible rules, stereotyped behaviors, and rituals related to task completion or execution. Subsequently, a list of 15 representative items per operationalization was elaborated for independent assessment and identification of delimitation problems. A high degree of agreement was reached in assessing them as instantiating compulsivity, as well as in their assignment to the corresponding categories. However, many of them were also considered overinclusive, i.e., uncapable of distinguishing compulsivity from value-based momentary choice. To increase their discriminative value, items in future compulsivity scales should be refined to explicitly mention disconnection between behavior and declarative goals. Further research on factorial structure of a pool of items derived from these operational definitions is warranted. Such a factorial structure could be used as an intermediate link between specific behavioral items and explanatory psychobiological, learning, and cognitive mechanisms.

Emotion regulation-enhanced group treatment for gambling disorder: a non-randomized pilot trial

BACKGROUND

Despite the association of Gambling Disorder (GD) with poor mental health, treatment options generally lack components targeting emotional difficulties. This study investigated the feasibility and acceptability of adding strategies of emotion regulation to an eight-session weekly group treatment.

METHOD

This non-randomized pilot study recruited 21 treatment-seeking adults with GD, (mean age = 36.3, 19% females) from addiction care. In a mixed methods design, measures of within-group changes in self-reported symptoms of GD were complemented with thematic analysis of post-treatment interviews regarding the feasibility of the treatment.

RESULTS

Within-group scores on the Gambling Symptoms Assessment Scale (G-SAS) showed a 47% decrease (β: -0.1599, 95% CI: - 0.2526 to - 0.0500) from pre-treatment to 12-month follow-up, with Hedges' g = 1.07 (CI: 0.57-1.60). The number of GD-symptoms according to the Structured Clinical Interview for Gambling Disorder (SCI-GD) decreased from 7.0 (SD = 1.60) at pre-treatment to 2.1 (SD = 2.36) at 12-month follow-up. Participants completed an average of 6.3 sessions and rated the intervention high in satisfaction and acceptability. Feasibility interviews showed no noticeable negative effects or ethical issues. Furthermore, helpful components in the treatment were: increased awareness of emotional processes and strategies to deal with difficult emotions.

CONCLUSIONS

Adding emotion regulation strategies in the treatment of GD is feasible and acceptable and warrants further investigation in a controlled trial.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier NCT03725735 ).

Integrating Desire Thinking into the I-PACE Model: a Special Focus on Internet-Use Disorders

Purpose of Review

This manuscript aims to propose an integration of desire thinking into the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model based on theoretical considerations within the Elaborated Intrusion Theory of Desire and Self-Regulatory Execution Function model and empirical evidence from the field of internet-use disorders.

Recent Findings

Theory and research on desire thinking in the context of internet-use disorders suggest considerable relations to craving, metacognitive beliefs, and emphasizes its nature when initiated as a reaction towards unpleasant triggers. Accordingly, we postulate that desire thinking may be located at the position for affective and cognitive reactions towards triggers within the I-PACE model.

Summary

The suggested integration of desire thinking into the I-PACE model specifically implies the assumption of a relief-oriented and pleasure-oriented entry pathway into desire thinking and a feedback loop between desire thinking and the experience of gratification and compensation. The model pathways proposed here may serve as a theoretical basis for future research and need further empirical verification.

Fleeing through the mind's eye: Desire thinking as a maladaptive coping mechanism among specific online activities

INTRODUCTION

Desire thinking is defined as a voluntary cognitive activity aimed at imaginatively and verbally elaborating a future scenario of performing a desired behavior. Although not problematic per se, desire thinking can become dysfunctional if it is used to regulate negative mood states and due to its ability to induce craving. This study tests a mediation model where desire thinking is hypothesized to mediate the association between emotional reactivity and craving among specific online activities.

METHODS

The study comprised an online survey that was completed by 925 participants who indicated that their first-choice online activity was one out of social-networks use, shopping, gaming, gambling, or pornography viewing. In this sample, a structural equation model was tested where negative emotional reactivity, desire thinking, and craving were latently modelled in this serial order.

RESULTS

Results indicated that higher levels in negative emotional reactivity significantly predicted higher desire thinking tendencies, which in turn significantly predicted higher cravings for online activities. The direct path between negative reactivity and craving was not significant. Further, our results support the two-factorial structure of a German version of the Desire Thinking Questionnaire (Caselli & Spada, 2011).

DISCUSSION

The findings show that desire thinking might be initiated as an attempt to regulate negative affective states. This highlights its possible role as a maladaptive coping mechanism in the context of specific online activities due to the resulting craving responses, which in turn could promote the emergence of unwanted behaviors.

The Development of the Turkish Craving for Online Shopping Scale: A Validation Study

In the present study, the Turkish version of the Craving for Online Shopping Scale (TCOSS) was developed by modifying items on the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS). The sample comprised 475 adult volunteers (233 women and 242 men) from three different non-clinical samples recruited online. The structure validity of the TCOSS was examined utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and criterion validity testing. The EFA showed that the TCOSS had a unidimensional structure that explained 80% of the total variance. The five-item unidimensional structure of the TCOSS then underwent further testing using two different samples. First, the structure of the TCOSS was tested using CFA, which confirmed the unidimensional factor structure. Second, measurement invariance of the TCOSS was conducted through structural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance across different samples. This demonstrated the TCOSS had measurement invariance across different samples (CFA and criterion validity samples). Criterion validity of the TCOSS was tested using the Internet Addiction Test-Short Form, Brief Self-Control Scale, Compulsive Online Shopping Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and self-reported personal information. According to the criterion validity results, the TCOSS assessed the structure it targets. Cronbach’s α internal consistency coefficients of the TCOSS were .94 in the EFA sample, .94 in the CFA sample, and .96 in the criterion validity sample. When validity and reliability analysis of the TCOSS are considered as a whole, it is concluded that the TCOSS is a valid and reliable scale for assessing craving for online shopping among online shoppers.