Adolescents' recall of sexual behavior: Consistency of self-report and effect of variations in recall duration

Purpose: To describe the relationship between adolescents' 2-week, 2-month, and 12-month recall of sexual behavior; to assess the variability of adole scents' self-reported sexual behaviors over a period of 1 year; and to draw conclusions regarding the use of recall periods in measuring self-reported sexual behavior in adolescents. Methods: Data from 296 African-American adolescents (age 12-19 years; 28% m ale) were analyzed. Baseline data comprise e-week, 2-month, and 12-month re call of number of partners and frequency of condom-protected and unprotecte d vaginal, oral, and anal sex. Self-reported frequency of refusal of unprot ected sex during the 2-week and 2-month recall periods are also included. T o assess variability in self-reports of number of partners and frequency of behaviors over time, repeated measures of 2-week and 2-month recall were c ollected from a subset of the sample (n = 129; 24% male). Results: The strength of correlation among responses from the three recall periods was dependent upon (a) the difference in length of the recall perio ds, and (b) the nature of the construct being recalled (e.g., number of par tners vs, number of behaviors). Longitudinally, the variability of 2-week r ecall responses was generally larger than the variability in 2-month recall responses. Conclusions: Consistent estimates of adolescents' sexual behavior over a 1- year period may be obtained from several assessments of 2-week recall, or f rom relatively fewer assessments of 2-month recall data. (C) Society for Ad olescent Medicine, 1999.