Golding J M, Gongla P, Brownell A
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.
Am J Community Psychol. 1988 Feb;16(1):39-51. doi: 10.1007/BF00906071.
Survey respondents may inaccurately report mental health service utilization for motivational and cognitive reasons. There is little evidence on accuracy of self-reports of mental health service use, and this evidence suggests that respondents tend to underreport inpatient utilization. This study addressed the question of self-report accuracy by comparing survey data from a large probability sample to data from computerized records of publicly funded mental health services. Few inaccuracies in self-reporting were detected. However, despite the use of data bases that were unusually appropriate for verifying self-reports, several problems limited the feasibility of validation. Suggestions are offered for increasing the feasibility of validation in future studies.
