Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117361

Rick S. Zimmerman, PhD and Gary Hansen, PHD. Department of Communication, University of Kentucky, 245 Grehan Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0042, 859-257-4099, rszimm@uky.edu

Background: While methodological research suggests that self-reports of sexual behavior in adolescents are generally valid, this is not always the case. Two methods proposed to assess problematic reporting are measures of social desirability (used often) and reports of how honest one was in completing a survey (used much less often). These two methods were compared in their relationship to adolescents' inconsistencies in reports of sexual behaviors.

Methods: Data about sexual behavior were collected from a cohort of 1989 rural adolescents at two points in time during 9th grade, about 4-6 months apart. We also assessed how honest they felt they were in answering questions on the survey with a single survey item, and students completed a short version of the Crowne-Marlowe social desirability scale adapted for adolescents (Reynolds, 1982). Three measures of inconsistency were created: saying they had sex at time 1 but they had not at Time 2, and two measures of number of inconsistencies within the Time 2 survey.

Results: Multivariate results for all three measures of inconsistency were similar: self-reported honesty predicted inconsistencies but social desirability did not. Those reporting less honesty on the survey were more than 2.5 times more likely to have become “survey virgins,” (i.e., reporting lifetime sexual activity at Time 1 but not at Time 2) than those reporting greater honesty.

Conclusions: These results suggest that self-reported honesty may be an important indicator of invalid or unreliable reports of adolescents' sexual behavior while social desirability may not. Implications for future research are discussed.

Learning Objectives: By the conclusion of the presentation, the participants should be able to

• Describe what is known about inconsistency in reporting about sexual behavior.
• Describe the results of a study conducted to assess the usefulness of self-reported honesty and social desirability measures to detect inconsistency in reports of sexual behavior.
• Understand the potential importance of self-reported honesty in improving the validity of self-reports of sexual behavior.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.