IMPROVING ACCURACY OF ADOLESCENTS' SUBSTANCE USE REPORTS VIA TEXT MESSAGING

Abstract

Existing measures of substance use show high test–retest reliability, but adolescent populations present unique challenges to issues of validity. Studies of the effects of substance use on adolescent development often rely upon self-report drug use histories, but it is notoriously difficult to collect accurate use records from teens, especially over long recall periods. This letter discusses some considerations for future research with adolescent substance users. Potential limitations to integrating text messaging into longitudinal data collection include possible low mobile telephone usage rates among high-risk populations and maintaining compliance with instructions. In summary, increasing the relevance of research to adolescents by adapting study participation to mobile telephone technology shows promise for improving data accuracy, and future research should consider incorporating text messaging into data collection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)