ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2021
A preliminary examination of the multiple dimensions of opioid craving.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Opioid craving does not incubate over time in inpatient or outpatient treatment studies: Is the preclinical incubation of craving model lost in translation?Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Investigating craving as an indicator of early response to buprenorphine treatment among adults with opioid use disorder.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2026Trial
- Commentary on Nieto et al.: The heterogeneity of drug craving and considerations as a treatment endpoint.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Reliability and clinical utility of heroin craving questionnaire factors in treatment-enrolled individuals with opioid use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Craving for opioid and cannabis use among adults with chronic pain: Insights from a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- 'I crave not to feel uncomfortable' - investigating craving for opioids and cannabis among individuals with chronic pain.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Daily profiles of nondrug reward and their association with daily outcomes for people in recovery from opioid use disorder: An application of latent profile analysis applied to intensive longitudinal data.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Article
- Treating Opioid Use Disorder and Opioid Withdrawal in the Context of Fentanyl.Annual review of clinical psychology · 2025Review
- Dynamic symptom networks in etomidate use disorder: a cross-lagged panel network analysis of craving, compulsive drug seeking, and cognitive control.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with opioid use disorder among adolescents with sickle cell disease in Mulago hospital, Uganda.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- Higher perceived stress during admission is associated with shorter retention in short-term residential substance use disorder treatment.Addictive behaviors reports · 2023Article
- The subjective experience of heroin effects among individuals with chronic opioid use: Revisiting reinforcement in an exploratory study.Addiction neuroscience · 2022Article
- Concept of Affective Dependence and Validation of an Affective Dependence Scale.Psychology research and behavior management · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough craving is a formal DSM-5 criterion and a commonly reported feature of opioid use disorder (OUD), there is no universally accepted assessment of opioid craving for treatment outcome studies or clinical trials. This mixed-methods study characterized dimensions of opioid craving identified in qualitative responses collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT).
methodThirty-nine participants completed an online screener on AMT and met inclusion criteria (e.g., > = 18 years old and past 30-day illicit opioid use). These participants completed a series of closed- and open-ended questions about their opioid use and craving, including several commonly-used craving measures. They also rated their preference for how different questions described craving. Responses to the open-ended question "What do you mean when you say you are craving opioids?" were coded according to dimensions in existing opioid craving assessments and other common themes identified in the data.
resultsAmong the 39 participants, 8 different dimensions were identified and coded. Descriptions of craving were most frequently categorized as "Anticipation of Negative Reinforcement" (n = 17/39) and "Interfering Thoughts" (N = 14/39). Individuals with drug use characteristics reflecting greater severity of use were more likely to describe craving as "Interfering Thoughts". Participants may prefer opioid craving questions that included Visual Analog Scale response formats relative to Likert scales.
conclusionsThere is a wide range of dimensions that were used to describe opioid craving and no single unifying dimension was identified. These data suggest opioid craving is a multidimensional construct including dimensions currently not included in common craving assessments.
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