title: How good is fine-grained Timeline Follow-back data? Comparing 30-day TLFB and repeated 7-day TLFB alcohol consumption reports on the person and daily level.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the correspondence of two types of Timeline Follow-back (TLFB) methods, a web-based self-administered, repeated 7-day TLFB and an interviewer-administered 30-day TLFB of alcohol consumption.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were first- and second-year college students (n=323, 58.5% female). Day-to-day correspondence of drinking reports and correspondence of person-level indicators of drinking were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that correspondence between the TLFB-30 and TLFB-7 reports was generally good for summary indicators of drinking, but TLFB-7 data indicated a statistically significantly higher number of total drinks consumed, a higher number of days drinking 4+/5+ drinks per day, and a lower number of abstinent days than TLFB-30. Similarly, day-to-day comparison of drinking reports showed that drinking days were more frequently reported using the TLFB-7, a trend which was more pronounced for distal weekdays than recent weekdays. Correlations between TLFB-7 and TLFB-30 reports of drinks per drinking day were also lower for distal compared to recent weekdays (r=0.61 vs. r=0.76). Using a Poisson regression model, a linearly increasing trend in the absolute value of the difference between TLFB-7 and TLFB-30 drinking reports per day as length of recall increases was found (b=0.013, z=4.43, with p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that participants reported more drinking on the repeated TLFB-7 than on the standard TLFB-30. Furthermore, the result of daily level analyses showed that discrepancies between the methods increased as the length of recall increased. These findings suggest that TLFB assessments covering longer intervals may have reduced accuracy on a fine-grained scale.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Box G-S121-4, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. bhoeppner@partners.org
authors.forename: Bettina B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Hoeppner
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Stout
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Nancy P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Barnett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009511:New England / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities
references.citation: J Stud Alcohol. 1995 Sep;56(5):487-90
references.pmid: 7475027
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 2001 Jan 1;153(1):64-71
references.pmid: 11159148
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2008 Jan;33(1):196-200
references.pmid: 17720324
references.citation: J Stud Alcohol. 1999 Nov;60(6):756-8
references.pmid: 10606486
references.citation: Med Care. 2006 Aug;44(8 Suppl 2):S13-24
references.pmid: 16849964
references.citation: J Stud Alcohol. 1998 Jul;59(4):447-54
references.pmid: 9647427
references.citation: Subst Use Misuse. 2001 Feb;36(3):313-31
references.pmid: 11325169
references.citation: J Epidemiol Community Health. 2004 Mar;58(3):238-42
references.pmid: 14966239
references.citation: Health Psychol. 1998 Jan;17(1):48-52
references.pmid: 9459069
references.citation: Subst Use Misuse. 2008 Dec;43(14):2116-23
references.pmid: 18825590
references.citation: Psychol Addict Behav. 2009 Jun;23(2):205-15
references.pmid: 19586137
references.citation: Addiction. 2000 Jun;95(6):889-900
references.pmid: 10946438
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2006 Apr;31(4):726-31
references.pmid: 15975732
references.citation: J Stud Alcohol. 2003 Nov;64(6):858-61
references.pmid: 14743950
references.citation: Eur Addict Res. 2003 Oct;9(4):165-75
references.pmid: 12970585
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 2005 Apr;73(2):229-38
references.pmid: 15796630
references.citation: Drug Alcohol Depend. 1996 Sep;42(1):49-54
references.pmid: 8889403
references.citation: Addiction. 2004 Mar;99(3):323-30
references.pmid: 14982545
references.citation: Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2004 Jun;28(6):921-30
references.pmid: 15201635
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 2004 Apr;72(2):155-64
references.pmid: 15065951
references.citation: J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2008 May;69(3):468-71
references.pmid: 18432391