Privacy Effects on Self-Reported Drug Use: Interactions With Survey Mode and Respondent Characteristics (From The Validity of Self-Reported Drug Use: Improving the Accuracy of Survey Estimates, P 383-415, 1997, Lana Harrison and Arthur Hughes, eds. - See NCJ 167339)

• NCJ Number: 167356
• Author(s): W S Aquilino
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 33 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA-06614
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Sale Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This article examines the impact of interview privacy on self-reported illicit drug use.

Abstract

Interviews with more than 2,000 adults showed that the presence of third parties (including parents) during the interview significantly influenced respondents' willingness to reveal illicit drug use. Among married respondents, presence of a spouse resulted in higher reporting of illicit drug use, while the presence of adults other than the spouse had a consistent negative effect on drug use reports. The pattern of findings suggests that the direction of effects of third party presence is linked to two factors: the extent of the third party's knowledge of the information requested, and the degree of the third party's stake in the respondent's answers. Tests of interactions between privacy and interview mode failed to support the hypothesis that the use of self-administered answer sheets reduces privacy effects compared with interviewer-administered interviews. Tables, references