Sex, Gender and Discordant Reporting among Adolescents in Urban India

Jaya Jaya, Johns Hopkins University

We examine factors associated with discordant reporting of sexual behaviors by interview methodology in a community-based randomized trial. 583 boys and 475 girls, ages 15-19, from slums in Delhi, India participated. Respondent reported on two interview methods--face-to-face interview and either Audio Computer Assisted Self Interviews (ACASI) or culturally sensitive, interactive interview on the same day. Boys were more discordant than girls in reporting ever had sex (OR 2.4, p=0.005) when completing both face-to-face and interactive interviews. Among those who completed face-to-face interviews and ACASI, boys were more discordant than girls in reporting ever had sex (OR 2.3, p=0.009) and ever experienced attempted forced sex (OR 3.9, p=0.003). Boys were less discordant than girls in reporting forced touch between face-to-face interview and ACASI (OR 0.5, p=0.002). Discordant reporting was common, but varied by type of sexual behavior and interview methodology. Gender was the most consistent sociodemographic factor for explaining discordance.