Urges to use substances is an important construct in understanding the maintenance of substance use as well as relapse. There is a need to evaluate single instruments measuring global urges to use substances (including alcohol). The Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS; R. F. Anton, D. H. Moak, & P. Latham, 1995) was revised and tested as a single measure of urges to use substances. Participants were 252 adults entering outpatient substance abuse treatment. Results suggest that the revised scale (OCDS-R) primarily assesses 1 global factor for urges to use substances. In addition, strong support was found for the reliability and concurrent validity of the OCDS-R, although results for its predictive validity were mixed. The OCDS-R is a brief, psychometrically sound self-report instrument that has applicability within clinical and research settings.

Copyright 2005 APA.