Original article
Testing the Question-Behavior Effect of Self-Administered Surveys Measuring Youth Drug Use

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Abstract

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.

Section snippets

Methods

Data used in the analyses were collected as part of the Community Youth Development Study, a community-randomized trial of the CTC prevention framework. CTC is a manualized, community-led prevention planning and monitoring system designed to reduce youth drug use and delinquent behaviors and promote positive youth development. The CTC trial involved 24 communities from seven states that were matched in pairs within state on sociodemographic factors, and then randomly assigned to serve as CTC

Results

Analyses did not find evidence supporting a short- or long-term question-behavior effect on drug use in grade 6 (Table 1). The likelihood of grade 6 drug use in students who were asked about their drug use in grade 5 (the initial sample) was not significantly greater than the likelihood of drug use among those who completed the survey only in grade 6 (the accretion sample). The rate of past 30-day use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana was nearly identical in both groups, indicating no

Discussion

This study does not find any evidence that asking youth about past drug use encourages or causes them to engage in future drug use. Our findings indicated no difference in the prevalence of self-reported drug use among those surveyed in grade 5 and again in grade 6 (initial sample) compared with those surveyed in grade 6 only (accretion sample). If there had been lasting harm from asking youth about past drug use, we would have found higher prevalence of past 30-day substance use in grade 6

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was presented in May 2015 at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research held in Washington, DC.

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Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Disclaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.

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