While heavy drinking and its consequences remains a major concern among young adults, most research is done in a retrospective manner. This retrospective reporting is often called Timeline Followback (TLFB) and can include bias. The current study looks at alcohol use, positive consequences, and negative consequences using smartphone-based diaries along with TLFB to investigate differences between the methods.

Eligibility for the study included being between 18-20 years old, attending a local 4-uear college, and either engaging in weekly heavy episodic drinking (HED) or experiencing at least 1 of 10 negative alcohol-related consequences. Participants completed a baseline questionnaire to assess drinking behavior including past-30-day drinking habits and an alcohol consequences questionnaire. They then attended an orientation to download the mobile data collection application and train on counting standard drinks. They completed daily surveys each morning for 28 days finishing with a TLFB interview once the 28 days were complete.

The final study included 96 young adults with average reported 10.5 drinks per week. Results showed mean total drinks, number of drinking days, and positive consequences were lower for daily reports compared with TLFB. They also showed there were no differences in average number of HED days, drinks per drinking day, or negative consequences. Researchers found that discrepancies were greater when more time had passed between the daily drinking period and TLFB collection. These findings are important to help understand the potential differences in data collected when using different types of research. One important finding is that since negative consequences did not differ, researchers now know that consequences will more than likely be the same reported via either method.

Take Away: The current study looks at alcohol use, positive consequences, and negative consequences using smartphone-based diaries along with TLFB to investigate differences between the methods. 96 participants completed a baseline survey followed by an orientation to download the mobile data collection application and learn more about the study. They completed daily surveys each morning for 28 days finishing with a TLFB interview once the 28 days were complete. Results showed mean total drinks, number of drinking days, and positive consequences were lower for daily reports compared with TLFB. They showed that there were no differences in average number of HED days, drinks per drinking day, or negative consequences. These findings are important to understand the potential differences in data collected when using different types of research.

Merrill, J. E., Fan, P., Wray, T. B., & Miranda, R. (2020). Assessment of Alcohol Use and Consequences: Comparison of Data Collected Via Timeline Followback Interview and Daily Reports. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 81(2), 212-219. doi:10.15288/jsad.2020.81.212