Validity of Adolescent Self-Reports of Cigarette Smoking

Citation

Bauman, Karl E. & Ennett, Susan T. (1998). Validity of Adolescent Self-Reports of Cigarette Smoking. American Journal of Public Health, 88(2), 309-310. PMCID: PMC1508198

Abstract

Wills and Cleary concluded from their research that "self-reports of cigarette smoking by Black and White adolescents were generally valid and that differences in false-negative and false-positive rates across ethnic groups did not seriously qualify results ... that the ethnic differentials in cigarette smoking indicated by previous
epidemiological research are real and not a consequence of reporting artifacts."' Their study was an attempt to replicate our research concluding that Black-White differences in self-reports of cigarette smoking and tobacco use were due in part to measurement error.2 Wills and Cleary believe their findings differ from ours, whereas webelieve they are strikingly similar. We also consider the conclusions they draw from their data, and the conclusions about our data they attribute to us, to be potentially misleading.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/ajph.88.2.309

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

1998

Journal Title

American Journal of Public Health

Author(s)

Bauman, Karl E.
Ennett, Susan T.

PMCID

PMC1508198