On the differentiation between trait and state food craving: Half-year retest-reliability of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State(FCQ-S)

Adrian Meule, Carina Beck Teran, Jasmin Berker, Tilman Gründel, Martina Mayerhofer, Petra Platte
2014 Journal of Eating Disorders  
Food craving refers to an intense desire to consume a specific food. The Food Cravings Questionnaires (FCQs) assess food cravings on a trait and a state level. Method: The current study examined half-year retest-reliability of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) and reports associations with current food deprivation in female students. Results: The FCQ-T-r had higher retest-reliability (r tt = .74) than the FCQ-S (r tt =
more » ... Although trait food craving was correlated with state food craving, it was unaffected by current food deprivation. Conclusions: Although state and trait food craving are interdependent, the FCQs are able to differentiate between the two. As scores of the FCQ-T-r represent a stable trait, but are also sensitive to changes in eating behavior, they may be useful for the investigation of the course of eating disorders and obesity.
doi:10.1186/s40337-014-0025-z pmid:25356313 pmcid:PMC4212121 fatcat:6q5b32xclrebnef2q4oxcvw2gy