Chow PI, Lord HR, MacDonnell K, Ritterbrand LM, Ingersoll KS. (2017). Convergence of online daily diaries and timeline followback among women at risk for alcohol exposed pregnancy. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 82: 7-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2017.08.004
Researchers compared timeline followback and online daily diary reports of drinking and sexual behavior from 71 women at risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancy (i.e. reporting unprotected intercourse and drinking more than recommended levels for women). Data were collected as part of a larger study evaluating an alcohol-exposed pregnancy risk reduction intervention. Researchers compared proportion of drinking days, proportion of binge drinking days, average number of drinks per day, and proportion of days having unprotected sex from 90-day timeline followback and 2-week daily diaries administered at baseline and six months. For timeline followback, researchers conducted interviews with participants to identify instances of drinking or unprotected sex in the past 90 days using a calendar. Online daily diaries involved participants recording their drinking and sexual behavior for at least 10 days in a 14-day assessment period. Researchers found that timeline followback and online daily diaries approaches yielded consistent data at both time points in two sets of analyses (zero order correlations, intra-class correlations); a third set of analyses (paired t-tests) indicated significant differences between timeline followback and online daily diaries for proportions of days drinking and of unprotected sex at baseline. Researchers conclude that timeline followback and daily diaries assessment approaches are likely comparable and that the benefits and challenges posed by each method should be considered in the context of the intended purpose of the assessment.