Recanting of life-time inhalant use: how big a problem and what to make of it.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the prevalence of recanting of life-time inhalant use, identify correlates of recanting to gain insight to its causes and develop a method for distinguishing recanters who truly are versus are not life-time users of inhalants.


METHODS
Longitudinal survey data from students in 62 South Dakota middle schools who were participating in a field trial to evaluate a school-based drug prevention program.


METHODS
At grades 7-8, participants reported on their life-time inhalant use, other drug use and drug-related beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.


RESULTS
Forty-nine per cent of students who reported life-time inhalant use at grade 7 recanted their reports a year later. Comparison of students who recanted inhalant use with those who did or did not report inhalant use consistently on drug-related beliefs, attitudes and behaviors at grades 7 and 8 suggested that, whereas some inhalant use recanting reflects denial of past behavior, some reflects erroneous initial reporting. Based on a latent mixture model fitted to the multivariate distribution of grade 7 and grade 8 responses of recanters and consistent reporters, we calculated the probability that each recanter was, in fact, a life-time inhalant user. An estimated 67% of the recanters in our sample appear to be life-time inhalant users who admitted use in grade 7 and then denied that use at grade 8; 33% appear to be students who reported use incorrectly at grade 7 and then corrected that error at grade 8.


CONCLUSIONS
Inhalant use recanting is a significant problem that, if not handled carefully, is likely to have a considerable impact on our understanding of the etiology of inhalant use and efforts to prevent it.
RAND, Pittsburgh, PA15213-2665, USA. martino@rand.org
Steven C
SC
Martino
Daniel F
DF
McCaffrey
David J
DJ
Klein
Phyllis L
PL
Ellickson
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000592:standards; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*