title: Influence of skip patterns on item non-response in a substance use survey of 7th to 12th grade students.
abstract: This retrospective case study assessed the influence of item non-response error on subsequent response to questionnaire items assessing adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. Post-hoc analyses were conducted on survey results obtained from 4,371 7th to 12th grade students in Ohio in 2005. A skip pattern design in a conventional questionnaire appeared to increase non-response error rates at first introduction. In previous cigarette users, these errors were associated with under-reporting of alcohol and marijuana use on subsequent questions. These effects were less prevalent in high-achieving students. Skip patterns can contribute to substantial underestimation of alcohol and marijuana use in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: ACHVE, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA. kding@Kent.edu
authors.forename: Kele
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: R Scott
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Olds
authors.forename: Dennis L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Thombs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D015982:Bias; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*