THE NIMH METHODS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL-DISORDERS (MECA) STUDY - BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Objective: A collaborative study was conducted to develop methods for surveys of mental disorder and service utilization in unscreened popul ation-based samples of children and adolescents. Method: Probability h ousehold samples of youths 9 through 17 years of age were selected at four sites and interviews were conducted with a total of 1,285 pairs o f youths and their adult caretakers in their homes. Lay interviewers a dministered a computer-assisted version of the NIMH Diagnostic Intervi ew Schedule for Children Version 2.3 and structured interviews to asse ss demographic variables, functional impairment, risk factors, service utilization, and barriers to service utilization. Results: More than 7,500 households were enumerated at four sites, with enumeration respo nse rates above 99%. Across sites, 84% of eligible youth-caretaker pai rs were interviewed for about 2 hours each. Ninety-five percent of bot h youths and caretakers found the interview to be acceptable enough to recommend to a friend. Conclusions: These findings indicate that larg e-scale epidemiological surveys of mental disorders and mental health service use involving lengthy interviews in the homes of unscreened po pulation-based samples of youths and their adult caretakers are accept able to the community and can achieve good response rates. The other r eports in this Special Section address the reliability and validity of the various survey instruments and other key findings.