Momentary Cannabis Craving Scale

Abstract

The Momentary Cannabis Craving Scale (MCCS), developed by Davis et al. (2025), is a specialized instrument designed to evaluate immediate, real-time desire for cannabis among individuals identified as emerging adults. The scale utilizes the principles of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), allowing for the measurement of psychological states in their natural context, thereby enhancing ecological validity.

Initially adapted from existing measures, the MCCS underwent rigorous psychometric evaluation and was refined to a concise, six-item instrument. This structure captures two primary dimensions of craving: the instrumental desire or purposefulness/general desire to use, and the motivational use of cannabis to cope with distress, categorized as negative affect/emotionality.

Keywords

Cannabis, Craving, Ecological Momentary Assessment, Emerging Adults, Negative Affect/Emotionality, Purposefulness/General Desire to Use, Psychometrics.

Authors

Davis, Christal N., Gex, Kathryn S., Squeglia, Lindsay M., Trull, Timothy J., McCarthy, Denis M., Baker, Nathaniel L., Gray, Kevin M., McRae-Clark, Aimee L., Tomko, Rachel L.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the MCCS is to precisely measure momentary cannabis craving in emerging adult populations who are regular users. By focusing on immediate, state-based craving rather than stable, trait-based craving, the scale is optimized for use within intensive longitudinal study designs, such as EMA protocols.

The instrument provides valuable data for intervention studies and etiological research by identifying immediate triggers and affective states associated with the desire for cannabis use. This fine-grained assessment is critical for understanding rapid fluctuations in craving, which often precede use or relapse.

Construct

The MCCS measures the psychological construct of Momentary Cannabis Craving. This construct refers to the acute, fluctuating subjective desire or urge to seek out and use cannabis at a specific point in time, distinguishing it from general, stable levels of craving for the substance.

The scale operationalizes this construct through two distinct, empirically derived factors: Purposefulness/General Craving, which reflects the overall desire and pleasant anticipation of use; and Negative Affect/Emotionality Craving, which reflects the desire to use cannabis specifically to alleviate uncomfortable emotional states, such as anxiety or tension.

Validity

The initial validation study demonstrated adequate convergent validity for the MCCS. The scale scores showed expected correlations with several established measures related to substance use behavior and psychological distress.

Specifically, the MCCS demonstrated strong relationships with general measures of craving, severity of cannabis use disorder symptoms, usage frequency, cue reactivity responses, overall negative affect, and measures of impulsivity. These findings confirm that the MCCS accurately captures the intended construct of momentary craving and its theoretical associations with related psychological variables.

Reliability

Specific internal consistency or test-retest reliability coefficients (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) were not explicitly detailed in the source content. However, the strong statistical performance indicated by the factor analysis indices suggests that the scale items function reliably together to measure the intended momentary construct within the EMA framework.

Factor Analysis

The psychometric development involved a comprehensive factor analysis to determine the optimal structure for measuring momentary craving in this population. The final structure settled on a six-item model following the removal of two items (Item 6: “I am craving cannabis right now” and Item 8: “Nothing would be better than using cannabis right now”) that exhibited significant cross-loading issues.

The best fitting statistical model identified was a two within-two between-factor model. The fit indices achieved strong performance metrics, supporting the two-factor structure (Purposefulness/General Desire and Negative Affect/Emotionality). Key indices included a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of 0.032, a Comparative Fit Index (CFI) of 0.998, and a Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) of 0.993, all suggesting an excellent fit to the observed data.

• Factor 1: Purposefulness/General Craving: Composed of items reflecting general desire and anticipated pleasure (Items 1, 3, and 4).

• Factor 2: Negative Affect/Emotionality Craving: Composed of items reflecting the desire to use cannabis to mitigate negative emotional states (Items 2, 5, and 7).

Instrument

Test Type: Inventory/Questionnaire (Specialized for Ecological Momentary Assessment)

Format: Items are rated using a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree.” The scale contains 6 items.

Language Available: English (U.S. context)

Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18+); Specifically targets Young Adulthood (18–29 yrs).

Population Details: Homogeneous sample of emerging adults aged 18–21 in the United States who report using cannabis a minimum of three times per week.

Test Methodology: The scale is administered using the EMA approach, requiring participants to respond to prompts multiple times per day in real-time environments.

Keywords

Momentary Craving, Cannabis Use Disorder, Addiction Assessment, Psychometrics, Affective States, Longitudinal Study, Cannabis.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in the source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2025 (Date of Publication).

Permissions and Fees: Information regarding formal permissions and associated fees for commercial or clinical use is not detailed in the initial validation documentation. Researchers should contact the primary author for usage permissions.

Files: No scale file is publicly available for download based on the source information.

Reference’s

Davis, C. N., Gex, K. S., Squeglia, L. M., Trull, T. J., McCarthy, D. M., Baker, N. L., Gray, K. M., McRae-Clark, A. L., & Tomko, R. L. (2025). Development and initial validation of a momentary cannabis craving scale within a homogeneous sample of U.S. emerging adults. Assessment, 32(1), 77–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911241237055

Items of the Momentary Cannabis Craving Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way. Note that the published items utilize the term “cannabis” rather than “marijuana” due to the historical context of the latter term.

1. ‘‘It would be great to smoke cannabis right now.’’

2. ‘‘I would feel more in control of things right now if I could smoke cannabis.’’

3. ‘‘Smoking cannabis would be pleasant right now.’’

4. ‘‘I have a desire to use cannabis right now.’’

5. ‘‘If I smoked cannabis right now, I would feel less tense.’’

6. ‘‘I would feel less anxious if I smoked cannabis right now.’’