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Inconsistencies Over Time in Young Adolescents' Self-Reports of Substance Use and Sexual Intercourse

NCJ Number
183245
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 35 Issue: 6-8 Dated: 2000 Pages: 1015-1034
Author(s)
Ann Stueve Ph.D.; Lydia O'Donnell Ed.D.
Date Published
2000
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Based on two surveys within a 6-month period, this study examined the extent to which young adolescents gave inconsistent answers to questions about sexual behavior and substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, and cocaine).
Abstract
Data were collected from 1,575 urban African-American and Hispanic students during the fall and spring of the 7th grade. This paper reports on data collected from two cohorts. The first cohort completed baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys during the 1994-95 school year; the second cohort completed surveys during 1995-96. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires administered in classroom settings. Each survey consisted of approximately 250 closed-ended questions that covered a wide range of health, school, family, and community-related attitudes and behaviors. This analysis focuses on a subset of questions about recent and lifetime use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, and crack/cocaine as well as questions about recent and lifetime reports of sexual intercourse. For each behavior examined, less than 2 percent of the sample gave inconsistent answers within a survey, and less than 7.5 percent did so over time. Retraction of baseline answers at follow-up was greater for rarer and more socially undesirable behaviors (e.g., cocaine versus cigarette use). Over-time inconsistencies were associated with lower reading comprehension and an overall reduction in risk behaviors at follow-up. 4 tables and 31 references

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