| Previous works have consistently documented that respondents underreport their recent illegal drug use. Despite this problem, few works have experimented with methods that might improve the validity of self-report drug use data. In the current study, arrestees surveyed through the Substance Abuse Need for Treatment among Arrestees (SANTA) study are exposed to two manipulations. The first - the standard SANTA collection procedure - involves the request for a urine specimen after the survey has been completed. The second condition requires that the urine specimen be collected and its results shared with the arrestee prior to the administration of the survey. It is hypothesized that respondents who are informed of their urine specimen results prior to the administration of a drug use survey will be more likely to self-report illegal drug use behaviors, and to be diagnosed dependent, than they would under the standard procedure. Implications for the future of drug use research are assessed in light of the generated findings. |
Updated 05/20/2006