Validity of Self-Reports of Adolescent Cigarette Smoking

Self-reports of cigarette-smoking behavior are typically used for estimating the number of smokers in a population, identifying the correlates of smoking behavior, and evaluating smoking cessation and prevention programs. The validity of self-reports by adolescents is frequently questioned but has received minimal empirical attention. Using air carbon monoxide as the criterion measure, self-reports of recency of cigarette smoking by ninth graders were found to be valid.