Adolescent Substance Abuse in Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States: Effect of Anonymous Versus Confidential Survey Formats

• NCJ Number: 216700
• Journal: Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 69-89
• Author(s): William W. Latimer; Megan S. O'Brien; Marco A. Vasquez; Maria Elena Medina-Mora; Carlos F. Rios-Bedoya; Leah J. Floyd
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2G12RR03050-18; DA00254
• Sponsoring Agency: Mercy Hospital and Medical Ctr; National Ctr on Minority Health and Health Disparities
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study compared the substance abuse data reported by youth on anonymous school-based surveys with data obtained on a confidential school-based survey (International Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health) conducted with youth in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States.

Abstract

Results indicated that in general youth reported comparable levels of substance use on anonymous and confidential surveys. Other findings revealed that female and male school-based youth in the United States and Puerto Rico reported similar lifetime and annual marijuana use rates on both types of surveys. Middle and high school females in Mexico reported greater marijuana use on the confidential survey than they did on the anonymous survey. In fact, an observable trend emerged from the data that indicated higher levels of self-reported substance use on the confidential survey format compared to the anonymous survey format. The findings suggest that since comparable data can be obtained using anonymous and confidential surveys, the decision about which data collection to use should include a consideration of the risks and benefits of using each format. Data from the confidential, multi-wave International Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health obtained from middle and high school students in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States was compared with data from the three anonymous school-based surveys administered to students in each of the three countries. All four surveys collected self-report information about the substance use patterns of the middle and high school students. The confidential survey collected substance abuse data from 1,238 students in Mexico, 989 students in Puerto Rico, and 1,432 students in the United States. The 3 anonymous surveys collected substance abuse data from 13,450 students in Mexico, 3,101 students in Puerto Rico, and 31,000 students in the United States. Differences in the proportions of youth reporting lifetime and annual substance use were analyzed using two-sample Z-tests. Future research should develop and implement a widespread, cross-cultural longitudinal confidential survey examining the causal predictors of adolescent drug abuse to complement the data provided by the anonymous Monitoring the Future survey. Tables, references