THE CONSISTENCY OF SELF-REPORTED INITIATION OF SEXUAL-ACTIVITY

In an analysis of the consistency of self-reported age at first interc ourse using longitudinal data from the National Youth Survey, 28-32% o f adolescents reported an age at first intercourse inconsistent with t he information they provided up to seven years later as adults. Overal l, white females were the most likely to offer consistent responses (7 0%), while black males were the least likely to do so (27%). Multivari ate analyses indicated that in addition to race and gender, some socia l and economic factors were significantly associated with inconsistent reporting. For example, those who lived in a two-parent household wer e less likely than those from a one-parent family to report an earlier age at first intercourse as adolescents than they reported as adults. After controlling for these inconsistencies, overall predictors of ad olescent sexual behavior remained unchanged. Although the analysis cou ld not determine which time period reflected more accurate data, if do es suggest limitations to using self-reported data to construct estima tes of adolescent sexual activity and to evaluate programs designed to alter adolescent sexual behavior.