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Effects of the Bogus‐Pipeline on Enhancing Validity of Self‐Reported Adolescent Drug Use Measures
Author(s) -
Werch Chudley E.,
Gorman Dean R.,
Marty Phillip J.,
Forbess Janet,
Brown Barry
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1746-1561.1987.tb07839.x
Subject(s) - drug , pipeline (software) , alcohol , psychology , population , medicine , clinical psychology , environmental health , psychiatry , computer science , biology , biochemistry , programming language
This study examined effects of a bogus objective measure (bogus‐pipeline) on self‐reports of experimenta‐tion, frequency, intentions, beliefs, and attitudes related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. One hundred ninety‐one adolescents (x age = 11.74 years) were assigned randomly to one of three conditions: a bogus‐pipeline with saliva collection, a bogus‐pipeline only, or a questionnaire only control. A significantly greater percentage of participants in the questionnaire only condition (28%) reported having experimented with alcohol, compared to those in the bogus‐pipeline only condition (22%), and the bogus‐pipeline with saliva condition (21%). No differences were found across conditions for subject experimentation with other drugs, frequency of drug use, intentions to use drugs, and beliefs and attitudes related to drug use (p > .05). The discrepancy among studies suggesting a validity enhancing effect due to bogus‐pipeline procedures and those indicating no effect may be accounted for by variables including age, experimental setting, population under study, and drug types. The broad, unquestioned application of the bogus‐pipeline in tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use prevention programs, or epidemiological studies of drug use, cannot be recommended at present.