Collateral informant assessment in alcohol use research involving college students.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the associations between college students' self-reported alcohol use and corresponding collateral reports and identified factors that influence agreement between both sets of reports.


METHODS
Subject-collateral pairs (N = 300) were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses.


RESULTS
Data yielded moderate correlations between subject-collateral pairs for all alcohol use measures, whereas discrepancy analyses revealed a tendency for subjects to report greater alcohol use relative to collateral reports. Greater subject-collateral agreement regarding frequency of subject alcohol use was predicted by a greater frequency of shared drinking occasions between the dyads, lower subject self-reported drug use, and lower levels of collateral guessing, whereas greater correspondence for quantity of alcohol consumed was predicted by fewer subject self-reported alcohol-related negative consequences, lower levels of subject self-reported drug use, and lower levels of alcohol ingestion among collaterals.


CONCLUSIONS
College students appear to provide reasonably accurate self-reports of their alcohol use.
Hagman
Brett T
BT
Department of Health Education and Behavioral Sciences, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Public Health, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903–2688, USA. hagmanbr@umdnj.edu
Cohn
Amy M
AM
Noel
Nora E
NE
Clifford
Patrick R
PR
D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012650:Self Disclosure; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult