To improve accuracy of retrospective recall, we used a life history calendar interview (Freedman et al. 1988) that assessed a range of relevant constructs for five age periods: 8–11, 12–14, 15–17, 18–21, and 22–25 years. These periods were assessed sequentially after the development of a calendar tracing major developmental events from ages 1–30 years. Interviewers began each new period with specific memory prompts taken from events in the calendar, thereby cuing the respondent into the relevant ‘memory files’. For variables assessed at the MM3 interview, test–retest reliability was assessed from evaluations of 141 subjects interviewed an average of 29 days apart.
