NCJ Number
151456
Journal
Canadian Journal of Public Health Volume: 84 Issue: 4 Dated: (July-August 1993) Pages: 259-264
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This is an assessment of the validity and reliability of a province-wide survey on drug use by high school students in Nova Scotia in 1991.
Abstract
The Nova Scotia instrument was derived from the prototype provided in the Canadian guidelines for self-reported adolescent drug use surveys. The authors believe this is the first study on the validity and reliability of the Canadian instrument, as applied in a province, since 1978. Two new methods are proposed as validity and reliability checks: a statistical method to assess possible exaggeration by the group claiming to have used a fictitious drug, and a method to review the entire instrument based on responding error distributions. Overall, this study provides strong evidence of the validity and reliability of the items specifically about drug use. The major source of error uncovered using the responding error distributions was related to instrument design and occurred in items considered to be explanatory variables for drug use. Footnotes, tables, figures, references