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. 2020 Jan;10(1):e01486.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.1486. Epub 2019 Dec 2.

Validation of a multisubstance online Timeline Followback assessment

Renée Martin-Willett  1 , Timothy Helmuth  1 , Median Abraha  1 , Angela D Bryan  1 , Leah Hitchcock  1 , Kaitlyn Lee  1 , L Cinnamon Bidwell  1
Affiliations

Validation of a multisubstance online Timeline Followback assessment

Renée Martin-Willett et al. Brain Behav. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: The Timeline Followback (TLFB) was originally developed to assess alcohol consumption patterns (American Journal of Public Health, 86, 1996, 966) and has been increasingly modified for Web-based use. Additionally, new modes of substance use administration have emerged, creating a need for an adaptable TLFB tool than can capture data such as cannabis product potency or prescription drug use. Our goal was to validate an online TLFB that reliably assesses a wide range of substances in greater detail.

Methods: Using a within-subjects counterbalanced design, daily substance use data were collected from 50 college students over a 14-day retrospective period using both the traditional in-person TLFB and online TLFB (O-TLFB).

Results: All substance use variables, including detailed measures of cannabis metrics, correlated significantly (r's ranged from .653 to .944, p < .001) between TLFB versions. Further, results demonstrated that both the online TLFB and in-person TLFB demonstrated concurrent validity with both the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Marijuana Dependence Scale (MDS).

Conclusion: Overall, the data suggest that this new O-TLFB demonstrates strong reliability and delivers a versatile and secure tool for substance use assessment that is relevant to a variety of biomedical and psychological research contexts.

Keywords: Timeline Followback; alcohol; cannabis; online assessment; substance use.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Visualization of the online Timeline Followback interface
Figure 2
Figure 2
Study recruitment flow
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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