Best-Friend Reports: an instrument for Measuring the Prevalence of Sensitive Behaviors

S. Yeatman and J. Trinitapoli jointly developed the tool that is best-friend. S. Yeatman developed the concept for the article, performed the analyses, and published the majority of the article. J. Trinitapoli recommended regarding the analysis and contributed to your writing associated with the article.

Abstract

We introduce the methodology that is best-friend making use of studies to gauge the population prevalence of delicate habits. We prove the potency of this device by comparing self-reports to best-friend reports of intimate behavior and abortion history among young ladies in Malawi (letter = 1493). Best-friend reports reveal higher and much more believable quotes of abortion and numerous intimate lovers. In contexts for which close friends commonly discuss such actions, best-friend reports are a relatively inexpensive and simply implemented device.

Survey scientists battle to measure sensitive and stigmatizing adultchathookups actions that are crucial for understanding health problems, habits of infection transmission, and need that is contraceptive. 1–4 Novel methodological methods to reduce underreporting, including sound computer-assisted self-interviewing and confidential voting strategies, have actually had limited success. These processes can generate higher (and perhaps more accurate 5 ) reports of specific intimate habits and abortion, nonetheless they create reduced reports of other actions and certainly will increase reporting errors. 6–11

To raised estimate the people prevalence of intimate danger behavior and abortion in a residential district in southern Malawi, we administered a study asking a number of questions regarding the behaviors associated with respondent’s friend that is best. This technique leverages 2 sociological insights. The very first is that relationship sites are homogenous; buddies are generally comparable pertaining to characteristics that are sociodemographic habits. 12 the second reason is that social desirability bias need to have less impact on reports associated with stigmatizing or sensitive behaviors of your respective buddies than on self-reports. 13 right Here we provide the first outcomes acquired by making use of this approach that is easily implemented review research on painful and sensitive subjects.

Malawi is within the midst of a generalized and mature AIDS epidemic. Young women can be specially prone to become contaminated, with HIV incidence peaking within the mid-20s. 14 Premarital intercourse, although typical, is nonnormative, developing a social desirability bias that encourages people, and ladies in specific, to underreport extramarital partnerships and sexual intercourse before wedding. 15,16

Abortion is unlawful in Malawi except to truly save the life span associated with the expecting girl. 17,18 however, clandestine abortion—largely unsafe—is a typical reaction to undesirable or mistimed pregnancies throughout the united states. There are not any nationwide quotes of abortion in Malawi, but information from major hospitals declare that abortion problems would be the many typical reason behind medical center admission to gynecological wards. 19,20

PRACTICES

Tsogolo la Thanzi (TLT) is a fresh and ongoing longitudinal research of young (15–25 years) Malawians residing within a 7-kilometer radius for the southern city of Balaka. The standard information had been gathered from a random test of females and males from June 2009 through August 2009. Just the information gathered through the test of females (N = 1493) are discussed right here.

Interviewers obtained the information in face-to-face interviews that lasted about 80 mins each. The study included questions regarding the respondent’s intimate behavior and also the history and upshot of each maternity she had ever skilled. Due to the delicate nature of these concerns, TLT complemented this direct approach with questions regarding the respondent’s friend that is best’s intimate behavior and abortion history. The interviewer introduced the best-friend part by asking the respondent to “think regarding your best feminine buddy in Balaka. Image her. Do you have got this person in your mind? ” Interviewers then asked the respondent a number of questions about the closest friend, beginning with less sensitive and painful questions and moving forward to more sensitive and painful concerns. As the relationship between close friends is usually reciprocal, this method approximates a 1-to-1 relationship.

OUTCOMES

When you look at the aggregate, TLT respondents’ answers to nonsensitive questions regarding their very own marriage and childbearing closely mirrored the responses they offered into the exact same questions regarding their finest buddies ( Figure 1 ). For instance, 42.1percent of participants reported being presently hitched, in contrast to 42.8% reporting that their utmost buddies had been hitched. Exactly the same ended up being real for having kiddies (49.2% both for) and pregnancy that is current9.6percent for respondents and 8.8% for his or her close friends). For lots more sensitive and painful concerns, nevertheless, significant distinctions emerged between self-reports and reports that are best-friend. The portion of participants whom reported having had intercourse in past times year (61.3%) ended up being the full 11 percentage points less than the portion whom stated that their utmost friends had had sex in the previous year. Underreporting had been systematic by marital status; the essential difference between self-reports and best-friend reports had been minimal for married females and enormous due to their unmarried counterparts, reflecting prevailing norms discouraging premarital activity that is sexual.

Comparison of female respondents’ self-reports to reports to their close friends: Malawi, 2009 (n = 1493).

Note. BF = friend that is best.

Also, although not many participants acknowledged having had a lot more than 1 intimate partner in days gone by 12 months (1.7%), numerous lovers had been reported to be reasonably frequent among close friends (20.3%). Within the retrospective maternity history, just 0.4percent of participants admitted to using had an abortion within their life time. By comparison, 7.6% of participants stated that these were confident their closest friend had ever endured an abortion, and yet another 0.5% suspected as much.

CONVERSATION

Best-friend reports usually do not re re solve all difficulties with self-reports on sensitive and painful problems. They have been inadequate for examining habits being not likely to be talked about between buddies or for developing causal mechanisms. Nevertheless, best-friend reports can very quickly offer better quotes associated with prevalence of delicate and underreported actions in populations. Soliciting a respondent’s reports regarding the faculties and behavior of his / her companion (who is most likely like the respondent) is an effectual and cheap method to gather informative data on painful and sensitive problems. At the population degree, the best-friend approach could possibly be validated with large-scale surveillance studies that compare habits of intimate behavior as established by best-friend reports to noticed styles in sexually transmitted infections. In the specific degree, the best-friend approach could possibly be validated with intensive community data connecting best-friend reports to biomarker information from participants and their finest buddies. As soon as best-friend reports have actually been validated completely, they might have substantial applications, including gauging the precision of self-reported behavior and enhancing epidemiological models of this spread of sexually sent infections by enhancing their inputs.