Testing the Question-Behavior Effect of Self-Administered Surveys Measuring Youth Drug Use.
PURPOSE
Concern that asking about a specific behavior could elicit that behavior is often cited as a reason that communities and schools should not administer surveys about youth drug use. In this study, we investigated if this question-behavior effect exists related to substance use. We examined if simply asking a student about their current drug use leads to an increase in drug use 1 year later.


METHOD
This study tests the validity of the question-behavior effect on youth drug use in a longitudinal panel of 2,002 elementary school students. The sample of students was drawn from the Community Youth Development Study, a community-randomized test of the Communities That Care prevention system. If the prevalence of self-reported drug use in sixth grade in a sample surveyed in fifth and sixth grades was higher than in an accretion sample surveyed only in sixth grade, the difference could indicate a question-behavior effect.


RESULTS
Results from logistic regression analyses did not provide any evidence of a question-behavior effect on 30-day or lifetime prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, inhalant, or marijuana use reported in sixth grade.


CONCLUSIONS
Asking youth about drug use in a survey did not increase the rates of self-reported drug use measured 1 year later. The absence of evidence of a question-behavior effect should ease concerns of communities and schools when administering surveys asking youth about their drug use.
['Briney|John S|JS|', 'Brown|Eric C|EC|', 'Kuklinski|Margaret R|MR|', 'Oesterle|Sabrina|S|', 'Hawkins|J David|JD|']
D000293:Adolescent D000294:Adolescent Behavior D000428:Alcohol Drinking D002648:Child D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D008385:Marijuana Smoking D015995:Prevalence D012309:Risk-Taking D057566:Self Report D012907:Smoking D013334:Students D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Question-behavior effect Youth drug use Youth surveys