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Abstract
Incarcerated adolescents are typically evaluated for their substance abuse treatment needs, often based on self-report information if their offense is not related to abuse. This study tests consistency of self-reports of alcohol and drug use by comparing responses youth give to corrections staff and to university research interviewers only weeks apart. Significantly more incarcerated adolescents (n= 894) report lifetime drug and alcohol use to researchers than to correctional staff. Sex and ethnic differences were found. Overall, a correlation of .57 is found between prevalence of alcohol and drug use as measured by the correctional staff and that measured by the researchers.