ArticleField methods2021
Choices Matter: How Response Options for Survey Questions about Sexual Identity Affect Population Estimates of Its Association with Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use.
Article in Field methods, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Does the approach used to measure sexual identity affect estimates of health disparities differently by race? A randomized experiment from the National Survey of Family Growth.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Trial
- Differences in Substance Use and Mental Health by Sexual Identity Among U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults.LGBT health · 2026Article
- Are the Effects of Poor Survey Measurement of Sexual Identity on Estimated Associations between Sexual Identity and Health-Related Measures Moderated by the State-Level Policy Environment?Journal of homosexuality · 2025Article
- "We're Here, We're Queer, Get Used to It": Advancing LGBTQAmerican journal of public health · 2024Article
- How a "Something Else" Response Option for Sexual Identity Affects National Survey Estimates of Associations Between Sexual Identity, Reproductive Health, and Substance Use.Archives of sexual behavior · 2024Article
- Mental health-related quality of life by sex and sexual identity among U.S. adults with alcohol and tobacco use disorder.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Article
- Trends in binge drinking, marijuana use, illicit drug use, and polysubstance use by sexual identity in the United States (2006-2017).Substance abuse · 2022Article
- Nicotine and Tobacco Product Use and Dependence Symptoms Among US Adolescents and Adults: Differences by Age, Sex, and Sexual Identity.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This study presents results from a randomized experiment in the 2015-2017 National Survey of Family Growth, where a large national sample of U.S. individuals aged 15-49 was randomly assigned to one of two different versions of a survey question about sexual identity (one with three response options, including heterosexual, gay/lesbian, and bisexual, and one adding the option "something else"). Analyses of changes in the associations of sexual identity with alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use across these treatments revealed evidence of significant differences in the associations that remained robust after adjusting for socio-demographics. The results suggest that when individuals choose their sexual identity from a more limited number of response options, the heterogeneity of the sexual identity subgroups increases, weakening estimated associations of sexual identity with these behaviors. Open-ended questions may therefore be necessary to measure sexual identity and estimate its associations with substance use behaviors accurately in surveys.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.