Journal
PEDIATRICS
Volume 126, Issue 5, Pages 887-893Publisher
AMER ACAD PEDIATRICS
DOI: 10.1542/peds.2009-3059
Keywords
cocaine; opiates; teen; drug use
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- National Institute of Drug Abuse [R01-DA08524, R01-DA016373]
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BACKGROUND: Prevalence estimates of illicit drug use by teens are typically generated from confidential or anonymous self-report. While data comparing teen self-report with biological measures are limited, adult studies identify varying degrees of under-reporting. METHODS: Hair analyses for cocaine, opiates and marijuana were compared to confidential teen self-and parent-reported teen drug use in a longitudinal cohort of >400 high-risk urban teens and parents. RESULTS: Both teens and parents substantially underreported recent teen cocaine and opiate use. However, compared with parents, teens were more likely to deny biomarker-verified cocaine use. Teen specimens (hair) were 52 times more likely to identify cocaine use compared with self-report. Parent hair analyses for cocaine and opiate use were 6.5 times and 5.5 times, respectively, more likely to indicate drug use than were parental self-report. The lack of concordance between self-report and bioassay occurred despite participant's knowledge that a certificate of confidentiality protected both teen and adult participants, and that the biological specimens would be tested for drugs. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm prior reports of adult under-reporting of their own drug use while extending our understanding of teen's self-admitted drug use. The lack of concordance between teen self-or parent-reported teen drug use and biomarkers confirm our concerns that both teen-and parent-reported teen drug use is limited, at least for youth in high-risk urban settings. Methods of ascertainment other than self-or parent-report must be considered when health care providers, researchers and public health agencies attempt to estimate teen drug-use prevalence. Pediatrics 2010;126:887-893
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