Adolescent substance use assessment: concordance between tools using self-administered and interview formats

The present study evaluates the agreement between adolescent self-report of substance use frequencies obtained from a self-administered questionnaire vs. face-to-face interview formats. Participants were 108 adolescents (82 males, 26 females), aged 11 to 19 (M = 15.74, SD = 1.17), who were referred for a chemical dependence assessment between June of 1999 and June of 2000 in Minnesota. The adolescent battery included the self-administered Personal Experience Inventory and the face-to-face interviewer-administered Drug Use History Interview to assess substance use frequency. A urine sample was also collected to validate self-report of recent substance use. Bivariate correlations between adolescent self-report on the self-administered and interviewer-administered formats were strong for alcohol (average r = 0.72) and marijuana (average r = 0.81) use frequencies during the 3 months and 12 months preceding the baseline assessment. However, adolescents were generally more likely to report greater frequencies of alcohol and marijuana use during the interview-administered protocol when compared to the self-administered format. Study implications and limitations are discussed.