Our findings support the incremental validity of the full DSM-IV criteria over both of the subsets of items explored in the current investigation. Accordingly, our results offer no decisive alternative to the full set of DSM-IV nicotine dependence criteria. However, the full DSM criteria accounted for only a very modest percentage of variance in smoking-related characteristics, and failed to predict treatment outcome. Furthermore, DSM-IV items demonstrated internal consistency below standards for clinical use. These findings are consistent with previous research (see [1]) and suggest that the DSM-IV items, as they are currently constructed, may not be well suited for most clinical or research purposes. Although there may be clinical utility in providing a diagnosis of dependence for third-party reimbursement, the primary strength of the DSM-IV and DSM-type measures (e.g. [15]) may lie in their ability to provide a somewhat basic description of tobacco dependence.
