Interactive Voice Response Technology applied to sexual behavior self-reports: a comparison of three methods

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Health Informatics
• Psychology

Background:

• Accurate self-reporting of sensitive behaviors like sexual activity and substance use is crucial for research.
• Traditional methods like questionnaires and Timeline Followback (TLFB) have limitations in capturing daily behaviors accurately.
• Interactive Voice Response Technology (IVR) offers a potentially more private and consistent method for daily self-reporting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and performance of IVR for daily self-reports of sexual behavior and substance use.
• To compare IVR data with self-administered questionnaires (SAQ) and TLFB methods.
• To investigate the influence of gender and time on reporting accuracy across different assessment modes.

Main Methods:

• A 91-day daily IVR assessment of sexual behaviors and substance use was conducted with 44 sexually active Hispanic students.
• Follow-up assessments used SAQ and TLFB for the same 3-month period.
• Analyses included ANOVAs and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to compare reporting across methods and over time, considering gender differences.

Main Results:

• IVR demonstrated feasibility, retaining 75% of participants for over 80 days.
• TLFB showed under-reporting, while SAQ indicated over-reporting of substance use compared to daily IVR.
• Gender moderated assessment mode effects, primarily observed in women.
• HLM revealed a significant decrease in self-reports over time, suggesting reactivity.

Conclusions:

• IVR is a feasible method for daily self-reporting of sexual behavior and substance use.
• Discrepancies exist between IVR, SAQ, and TLFB, highlighting method-specific biases.
• Reactivity of self-monitoring via IVR may influence behavior over extended periods.
• Gender plays a role in the reporting of sensitive behaviors across different assessment technologies.