title: Use of a Respondent-Generated Personal Code for Matching Anonymous Adolescent Surveys in Longitudinal Studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Research on sensitive and private topics relies heavily on self-reported responses. Social desirability bias may reduce the accuracy and reliability of self-reported responses. Anonymous surveys appear to improve the likelihood of honest responses. A challenge with prospective research is maintaining anonymity while linking individual surveys over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have tested a secret code method in which participants create their own code based on eight questions that are not expected to change.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In an ongoing middle school trial, 95.7% of follow-up surveys are matched to a baseline survey after changing up to two-code variables. The percentage matched improves by allowing up to four changes (99.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of a secret code as an anonymous identifier for linking baseline and follow-up surveys is feasible for use with adolescents. While developed for violence prevention research, this method may be useful with other sensitive health behavior research.
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: Lisa.ripper@chp.edu.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ripper
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciaravino
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Kelley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Maria Catrina D
authors.initials: MCD
authors.lastname: Jaime
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003219:Confidentiality; D000068240:Data Anonymization; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescents; Anonymous surveys; Confidentiality; Longitudinal survey research; Privacy