Point and Click, Carefully

Abstract

This study investigated inconsistent responding to survey items by participants involved in longitudinal, web-based substance use research. We also examined cross-sectional and prospective predictors of inconsistent responding. Middle school (N = 1,023) and college students (N = 995) from multiple sites in the United States responded to online surveys assessing substance use and related variables in three waves of data collection. We applied a procedure for creating an index of inconsistent responding at each wave that involved identifying pairs of items with considerable redundancy and calculating discrepancies in responses to these items. Inconsistent responding was generally low in the Middle School sample and moderate in the College sample, with individuals showing only modest stability in inconsistent responding over time. Multiple regression analyses identified several baseline variables—including demographic, personality, and behavioral variables—that were uniquely associated with inconsistent responding both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Alcohol and substance involvement showed some bivariate associations with inconsistent responding, but these associations largely were accounted for by other factors. The results suggest that high levels of carelessness or inconsistency do not appear to characterize participants’ responses to longitudinal web-based surveys of substance use and support the use of inconsistency indices as a tool for identifying potentially problematic responders.

Random responses inflate statistical estimates in heavily skewed addictions data

“…For example, only four manuscripts published in addiction journals referenced the four most highly cited manuscripts on random responding (Huang et al, 2012; Johnson, 2005; Maniaci and Rogge, 2014; Meade and Craig, 2012). Two of these manuscripts described the issue of random responding (Godinho et al, 2016; Meyer et al, 2013), two others reported screening for random responding (Blevins and Stephens, 2016; Hershberger et al, 2016), and a fourth studied the issue directly (Wardell et al, 2014). To confirm this, we conducted a broader literature search in the full text of every research article published in 2016 in 14 journals (randomly selected from among all journals that primarily publish research on addictions: Addiction, Addiction Biology, Addiction Research and Theory, Addictive Behaviors, Alcohol and Alcoholism, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, Journal of Drug Education, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Substance Use and Misuse ) for keywords related to random responding ( invalid, invalid response, random respond, random response, bogus, mischievous, and long-string ).…”

Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Reproducibility of the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+): The Brazilian Portuguese Version

“…This is supported by Meade and Craig ( 62 ), who pointed out that the distance from the respondent to the professional in charge of the questionnaire can lead to less accountability when completing the survey. An additional possible cause of some level of inattention is the need to repeatedly answer the same questionnaire in a short period of time ( 63 , 64 ). This could have been a factor in the present study, since the validation process required participants to answer the same questionnaire twice, seven to 14 days apart.…”

Adolescent recanting of alcohol use: A longitudinal investigation of time-varying intra-individual predictors

“…Participants’ tendency toward inconsistent responding was indexed using the procedures outlined in Wardell et al (2014). Briefly, we identified seven item pairs that assessed redundant information and therefore should have yielded consistent responses (e.g., “skipped school” vs. “skip school all or part of the day”; “go to church” vs. “attend religious services”).…”