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Saturday, 15 August 2015

Chocolate versions of the Food Cravings Questionnaires. Associations with chocolate exposure-induced salivary flow and ad libitum chocolate consumption


Appetite
Volume 91, 1 August 2015, Pages 256–265
Research report

Chocolate versions of the Food Cravings Questionnaires. Associations with chocolate exposure-induced salivary flow and ad libitum chocolate consumption ☆


doi:10.1016/j.appet.2015.04.054
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Highlights

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Chocolate versions of the Food Cravings Questionnaires were validated.
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Trait chocolate craving was associated with more frequent chocolate consumption.
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State chocolate craving was associated with laboratory chocolate consumption.
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Cue-induced chocolate craving was associated with increased salivary flow.
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Trait chocolate craving and salivary flow interactively predicted chocolate intake.

Abstract

The Food Cravings Questionnaires are the most commonly used instruments for the assessment of trait and state food craving. Chocolate is the most frequently craved food in Western societies. In the current studies, the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) were adapted to capture strong urges for chocolate. In study 1, students (n = 492; 81.3% female) completed chocolate versions of the FCQ-T-r and FCQ-S among other measures online. The FCQ-T-r (α = .94) comprised two subscales representing lack of control (α = .91) andthoughts about chocolate (α = .91). The FCQ-S (α = .87) comprised two subscales representing chocolate craving (α = .90) and hunger (α = .85). FCQ-T-r scores were significantly and positively correlated with self-reported frequency of consuming chocolate and with scores on the Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire, indicating good convergent validity. In study 2, students (n = 76; 73.7% female) underwent a chocolate exposure in the laboratory. FCQ-S scores increased during chocolate exposure and increases in momentary chocolate craving were significantly positively correlated with increases in salivary flow. Higher momentary chocolate craving was positively correlated with higher laboratory chocolate consumption. Exploratory analyses revealed that increases in salivary flow were only associated with increased chocolate consumption in participants scoring high, but not low on trait chocolate craving. The chocolate versions of the FCQ-T-r and FCQ-S represent reliable and valid self-report measures for the assessment of trait and state chocolate craving.

Keywords

  • Food craving; 
  • Chocolate; 
  • Food Cravings Questionnaires; 
  • Salivation; 
  • Salivary flow;
  • Hunger
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Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Sophia Backhaus, Katrin Beck, Ursula Becker, Julia Fischer, Marie Friedmann, Christian Ganster, Johannes Goldschmitt, Tina Hermann, Nina Pfrommer, Stephen Pfrommer, Julia Semineth, Nina Vierheilig, and Pauline Zahn for collecting the data.

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Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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