Brief Substance Craving Scale

The BSCS is a 16 item, self-report instrument assesses craving for cocaine and other substances of abuse over a 24 hour period. Intensity and frequency of craving are recorded on a five-point Likert scale. The Craving Subcommittee of the NIDA Medications Development Research Units (MDRU) designed this instrument as an expansion of the Cincinnati Craving Scale. Reliability data for this instrument has been collected at the Cincinnati MDRU. The BSCS takes approximately 10 minutes; it can be used at intake, during treatment, and at follow-up. However, none of the craving measures were significantly correlated with: a) cocaine use during the past 30 days, b) days since the last use of cocaine, or c) being in a controlled environment during the past 30 days.