Premium
Validity of questionnaires in population studies on drug use
Author(s) -
Benson G.,
Holmberg M. B.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1985.tb05045.x
Subject(s) - population , psychology , drug , clinical psychology , test validity , strengths and weaknesses , substance abuse , predictive validity , concurrent validity , psychometrics , psychiatry , external validity , medicine , environmental health , social psychology , internal consistency
The concurrent validity of questionnaires in population studies on drug use was tested by comparing information from registers and interviews in two populations of young people from Gothenburg. The questionnaire items’ sensitivity and specificity according to criteria and their capacity for prediction of drug use and no drug use and correct classification were calculated. Considering criteria weaknesses and other sources of errors, the validity of the questionnaire items was good. This conclusion is basic to longitudinal population studies which aim at clarifying the prognosis of drug abuse among young people.