The Reliability and Consistency of Self‐reports on Substance Use in a Longitudinal Study

Summary The paper presents an evaluation of the stability and consistency of self‐reported adolescent drug use. The data were collected from 1900 high‐school students. Analyses included estimates of alternate forms reliability, non‐response rates, logical consistency in the responses, test‐retest reliability as well as estimates of exaggerated reports. The findings indicate a high rate of stability in self‐reporting of substance use, both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally. These results are in agreement with other studies of self‐reported drug use and suggest that questionnaire may provide highly reliable data for research.