Effects of Interviewer Age on Reporting of Sexual and Reproductive Behavior of Hispanic and African American Youth

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the effects of interviewer age on the reporting of personal behaviors including sexual experience, abortion, live births, and condom use. Data were drawn from a household probability sample of 1,435 urban, low-income, African American and Hispanic youths 15 to 24 years of age conducted in 1991. The results indicate that interviewer age does play a role in the reporting of sensitive behaviors, although the effects were not uniform for gender and ethnic groups. The strongest effects were observed for Hispanic women who reported more sexual activity to younger interviewers. Implications for making comparisons of sexual risk behaviors between ethnic groups with sample survey data are discussed.

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