TY - JOUR
T1 - Ability to measure sensitive adolescent behaviors via telephone
AU - Boekeloo, Bradley O.
AU - Schamus, Lisa A.
AU - Simmens, Samuel J.
AU - Cheng, Tina L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grant R01 HD32572 from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD. We gratefully acknowledge Barbara Frank, Vinita Goveia, Kathleen O’Connor, and Annalisa Perez for their assistance in conducting this research.
Copyright:
Copyright 2007 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1998/4
Y1 - 1998/4
N2 - Introduction: Difficulty in measuring sensitive behaviors in 12-15- year-old adolescents is a barrier to research. This study determined whether early adolescents reported substance use and sexual activity similarly in assisted paper-and-pencil versus touch-tone telephone responses. Methods: Adolescents 12-15 years old completed confidential, interviewer-assisted questionnaires first in a physician office by paper-and-pencil and then at home by touch-tone approximately 3 months later. Adolescents were from a high-risk urban area, 71% were minority, and all had parent consent to participate. Results: The follow-up participation rate was 94% (follow-up n = 207). Test-retest stability was generally poor for low-frequency behaviors such as injection drug use, anal intercourse, and sexual behaviors in 12-13- year-olds. Test-retest stability was fair to good for common substance use items. Test-retest stability was generally good among females and 14-15- year-old adolescents, and poor to fair among males and 12-13-year-olds, for common sexual experiences in the last 3 months. Test-retest stability was generally good to excellent for all lifetime sexual experiences except among 12-13-year-olds in which it was generally poor. Internal consistency of the self-esteem scale was high using both response technologies. Both response technologies reproduced correlations between substance use and lifetime sexual experience. Conclusion: A high participation rate and reliable data capture were achieved when assessing sensitive behaviors of 14-15-year-olds using touch-tone telephone response. Sexual behaviors were more reliably captured using a 'lifetime' versus 'last 3-month' reference period. Low prevalence contributed to poor reliability in 12-13-year-olds.
AB - Introduction: Difficulty in measuring sensitive behaviors in 12-15- year-old adolescents is a barrier to research. This study determined whether early adolescents reported substance use and sexual activity similarly in assisted paper-and-pencil versus touch-tone telephone responses. Methods: Adolescents 12-15 years old completed confidential, interviewer-assisted questionnaires first in a physician office by paper-and-pencil and then at home by touch-tone approximately 3 months later. Adolescents were from a high-risk urban area, 71% were minority, and all had parent consent to participate. Results: The follow-up participation rate was 94% (follow-up n = 207). Test-retest stability was generally poor for low-frequency behaviors such as injection drug use, anal intercourse, and sexual behaviors in 12-13- year-olds. Test-retest stability was fair to good for common substance use items. Test-retest stability was generally good among females and 14-15- year-old adolescents, and poor to fair among males and 12-13-year-olds, for common sexual experiences in the last 3 months. Test-retest stability was generally good to excellent for all lifetime sexual experiences except among 12-13-year-olds in which it was generally poor. Internal consistency of the self-esteem scale was high using both response technologies. Both response technologies reproduced correlations between substance use and lifetime sexual experience. Conclusion: A high participation rate and reliable data capture were achieved when assessing sensitive behaviors of 14-15-year-olds using touch-tone telephone response. Sexual behaviors were more reliably captured using a 'lifetime' versus 'last 3-month' reference period. Low prevalence contributed to poor reliability in 12-13-year-olds.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0749-3797(97)00061-5
DO - 10.1016/S0749-3797(97)00061-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 9569222
AN - SCOPUS:0031898405
SN - 0749-3797
VL - 14
SP - 209
EP - 216
JO - American journal of preventive medicine
JF - American journal of preventive medicine
IS - 3
ER -