Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 362-368, 2004
Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 39, No. 4 © Medical Council on Alcohol 2004; all rights reserved
THE RELIABILITY OF SELF-REPORTED DRINKING IN ADOLESCENCE
1 Tampere School of Public Health, FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland and 2 STAKES, The National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, PO Box 220, FIN-00531 Helsinki, Finland
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, FIN-33014, Finland. Tel.: +358 3 215 6797; Fax: +358 3 215 6057; Email: tomi.lintonen{at}uta.fi
(Received 11 November 2003; first review notified 3 February 2004; in revised form 13 March 2004; accepted 13 April 2004)
Aims: To study the reliability of adolescents' self-reported drinking and perceived drunkenness in surveys. Methods: The data from two cross-sectional school-based questionnaire surveys with representative cluster samples (the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs, ESPAD) in Finland were used; there were 2161 (1995) and 3109 (1999) 15-year-old respondents. The response rates were 94% and 90% respectively. The measurements analysed were an open-ended and a set of closed-category questions concerning the latest drinking occasion. Results: The set of three closed questions used in 1995 yielded mean amounts of 6.6 (girls) and 8.7 (boys) centilitres of pure alcohol whereas the figures obtained from the open question were 8.5 (girls) and 11.8 (boys) centilitres. With the closed set extended in 1999 into five questions, the two figures among girls were 7.7 (closed) and 7.7 (open) centilitres; the corresponding figures among boys were 11.3 (closed) and 11.7 (open) centilitres. Individual level correlations between the two measures among girls were 0.69 in 1995 and 0.69 in 1999; and 0.69 (1995) and 0.65 (1999) among boys. The numbers of students reporting specific beverage type use were higher when using closed questions compared with an open question. Drunkenness self-reports related logically to amounts of alcohol drunk. Conclusions: The adolescent drinking amount self-reports seem reasonably reliable and valid both on a population and individual level. A set of closed questions may capture the amount drunk even better than an open question.
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