National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
PLoS One. 2013 Aug 28;8(8):e72947. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072947. eCollection 2013.
To measure the degree and direction of errors in recall of age at first sex.
Participants were initially recruited in 1994-1995 (Wave I) with 3 subsequent follow-ups in: 1996 (Wave II); 2001- 2002 (Wave III); and 2007-2008 (Wave IV). Participants' individual errors in recall of their age at first sex at Wave IV were estimated by the paired difference between responses given for age at first sex in Wave I and Wave IV (recalled age at first sex obtained at Wave IV minus the age at first sex obtained at Wave I).
The mean of the recall-estimation of age at first sex at Wave IV was found to be slightly increased comparing to the age at first sex at Wave I (less than 1 year). The errors in the recalled age at first sex tended to increase in participants who had their first sex younger or older than the average, and the recalled age at first sex tended to bias towards the mean (i.e. participants who had first sex younger than the average were more likely to recall an age at first sex that was older than the age, and vice versa).
In this U.S. population-based sample, the average recall error for age at first sex was small. However, the accuracy of recalled information varied significantly among subgroup populations.
测量首次性行为年龄回忆的误差程度和方向。
参与者最初于 1994-1995 年（第 I 波）招募，并在随后的 1996 年（第 II 波）、2001-2002 年（第 III 波）和 2007-2008 年（第 IV 波）进行了 3 次随访。通过第 I 波和第 IV 波中首次性行为年龄的应答之间的配对差异，估计参与者在第 IV 波中首次性行为年龄回忆的个体误差（在第 IV 波中获得的回忆首次性行为年龄减去在第 I 波中获得的首次性行为年龄）。
与第 I 波相比，第 IV 波中首次性行为年龄回忆估计的平均值略有增加（不到 1 年）。在首次性行为年龄早于或晚于平均值的参与者中，回忆的首次性行为年龄的误差倾向于增加，并且回忆的首次性行为年龄倾向于偏向平均值（即，首次性行为年龄早于平均值的参与者更有可能回忆起比年龄大的首次性行为年龄，反之亦然）。
在这项基于美国人群的样本中，首次性行为年龄的平均回忆误差较小。然而，回忆信息的准确性在亚组人群中差异显著。
