Development and Initial Validation of the Caffeine Motives Questionnaire

Abstract

Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. However, there is no available, comprehensive measure with which to assess individuals' motivations for use formally. In the current study, we sought to develop and validate a measure of caffeine motives (the Caffeine Motives Questionnaire; CMQ). An exploratory factor analysis and a confirmatory factor analysis were sequentially conducted first to determine and then confirm the factor structure across two large samples of university students (N=922). To examine evidence for construct validity, a series of correlations were conducted to assess relations between CMQ factors and psychological health. Results indicated that a 21-item, four-factor CMQ demonstrated reliability and evidence for construct validity, and that the measure has potential utility in both research and clinical settings.