RELIABILITY OF THE TIMELINE FOLLOW-BACK SEXUAL-BEHAVIOR INTERVIEW

The reliability of self-reported sexual behavior is a question of utmo st importance to human immunodeficiency virus (HN) prevention research . The Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) interview, which was developed to as sess alcohol consumption on the event level, incorporates recall-enhan cing techniques that result in reliable information. In this study, th e TLFB interview was adapted to assess HN-related sexual behaviors and their antecedents, and its reliability was assessed. The interview wa s administered to 110 participants (46% women, M age = I9.7; range = 1 8-41), and 58 participants who reported sexual behavior during the pre vious three months returned one week later for a second interview. Tes t-retest intraclass correlations (rho) from the TLFB protocol showed t hat all sexual behaviors were reported reliably (rho range =.86 to .97 median = .96). Bootstrapping, a nonparametric statistical technique, was used for significance testing in the reliability analyses. Reliabi lity was equivalent across each of the three months assessed with the TLFB and was equivalent to conventional assessment methods (i.e. singl e-item questions). These findings show that the TLFB sexual behavior i nterview provides reliable reports of sexual behavior over three month s and yields event-level data that are extremely valuable for sexual b ehavior and HN-prevention research.