Trial reportJMIR public health and surveillance2021
Examining the Impact of Question Construction on Reporting of Sexual Identity: Survey Experiment Among Young Adults.
Trial report in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Effects of Vaping Prevention Messages on Electronic Vapor Product Beliefs, Perceived Harms, and Behavioral Intentions among Young Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Rapid tobacco surveillance among young people in six states: Methods and findings from the Center for Rapid Surveillance of Tobacco Youth and Young Adult Cohort.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Reactions to a Hypothetical Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarette Policy Among Sexual- and Gender-Minoritized Communities: A Concept Mapping Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Sexuality and Gender Diversity Among Adolescents in Australia, 2019-2021.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Article
- Ongoing Refinement and Adaptation are Required to Address Participant Deception in Online Nicotine and Tobacco Research Studies.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCompared with heterosexuals, sexual minorities in the United States experience a higher incidence of negative physical and mental health outcomes. However, a variety of measurement challenges limit researchers' ability to conduct meaningful survey research to understand these disparities. Despite the prevalence of additional identities, many national health surveys only offer respondents 3 substantive options for reporting their sexual identities (straight/heterosexual, gay or lesbian, and bisexual), which could lead to measurement error via misreporting and item nonresponse.
objectiveThis study compared the traditional 3-option approach to measuring sexual identity with an expanded approach that offered respondents 5 additional options.
methodsAn online survey experiment conducted among New Jersey residents between March and June 2021 randomly assigned 1254 young adults (ages 18-21) to answer either the 3-response measure of sexual identity or the expanded item. Response distributions for each measure were compared as were the odds of item nonresponse.
resultsThe expanded version of the question appeared to result in more accurate reporting among some subgroups and induced less item nonresponse; 12% (77/642) of respondents in the expanded version selected a response that was not available in the shorter version. Females answering the expanded item were less likely to identify as gay or lesbian (2.1% [10/467] vs. 6.6% [30/457]). Females and Non-Hispanic Whites were slightly more likely to skip the shorter version than the longer version (1.1% [5/457 for females and 3/264 for Non-Hispanic Whites] vs. 0% [0/467 for females and 0/277 for Non-Hispanic Whites]). About 5% (32/642) of respondents answering the longer item were unsure of their sexual identity (a similar option was not available in the shorter version). Compared with respondents answering the longer version of the question, those answering the shorter version had substantially greater odds of skipping the question altogether (odds ratio 9.57, 95% CI 1.21-75.74; P=.03).
conclusionsResults favor the use of a longer, more detailed approach to measuring sexual identity in epidemiological research. Such a measure will likely allow researchers to produce more accurate estimates of health behaviors and outcomes among sexual minorities.
Indexed as
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.