# Craving as a transdiagnostic marker of addiction? A perspective for behavioral addictions

## TL;DR

The paper explores whether craving can be a common marker for both substance and behavioral addictions.

## Contribution

It proposes craving as a transdiagnostic construct applicable to both substance and behavioral addictions.

## Key findings

- Craving is a core criterion for substance addictions with clinical utility.
- Recent evidence suggests craving may apply to behavioral addictions as well.
- Craving has not been formally integrated into behavioral addiction diagnostics.

## Abstract

The addiction term is sometimes overused, both in the media and popular discourse, to describe excessive engagement in everyday behaviors such as sugar consumption, screen use, or physical exercise. This overuse may reflect the fact that rewarding behaviors, much like the use of rewarding substances, can lead to repeated use, occasionally beyond what is considered reasonable and with significant negative consequences. This raises fundamental questions: by which criteria can an addiction be identified? Is the phenomenon the same for substances and behaviors? This perspective article proposes to explore these questions by examining the relevance of craving, defined as an intense, persistent, but involuntary desire to use a specific substance/behavior. Although craving is well-established as a core criterion for substance addictions, with strong prognostic value, clinical utility, it has not yet been formally integrated into diagnostic classifications for behavioral addictions. This perspective article reviews recent evidence supporting that craving may represent a transdiagnostic construct across substance and behavioral addictions.