SEX AND DRUGS AND TEENAGE BOYS

STANDARD written surveys may vastly underestimate the risky behaviour of
teenagers. A new computer-assisted survey has found that many times more
American teenagers than previously believed have injected drugs or had sex
with an intravenous drug user.

Charles Turner and colleagues at the Research Triangle Institute and the
Urban Institute in Washington DC surveyed 1700 randomly chosen teenage
males. They used a written survey or a computer-based test in which
questions were shown on screen and played through headphones by a digital
recording. The two methods produced remarkably different results. "Whatever
your impression of teenage risk behaviour before," says Turner, "things are
worse."

For example, about 5 per cent of those given the computer survey reported
they had injected street drugs---four times the number who admitted to the
practice in the written survey. The electronic survey also uncovered 17
times as many teenagers, nearly 3 per cent, who'd had sex with an
intravenous drug user.

Less taboo activities came up similarly in both tests---65 per cent had
drunk alcohol, 50 per cent had sex with a female (Science, vol 280, p 867).
The researchers say responses may seem more confidential when stored as a
computer file rather than on paper, leading subjects to be more truthful.
Asking the questions over the headphones may also help subjects who have
trouble reading the question.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski