MEASUREMENT OF RISK FOR MENTAL-DISORDERS AND COMPETENCE IN A PSYCHIATRIC EPIDEMIOLOGIC COMMUNITY SURVEY - THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL-HEALTH METHODS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL-DISORDERS (MECA) STUDY

This paper describes the implementation of the National Institute of M ental Health Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Ment al Disorders (MECA) study's goals of measuring risk factors and compet ence. The emphasis is on the development and testing of the measures. Relevant constructs fur measurement of risk and competence in relation to psychopathology wen selected and pilot tested prior to the field t rials. A structured interview was developed and field tested using lay interviewers. Using the full sample from the field trials (n = 1285 c aretaker-youth pairs), sample means, standard deviations. internal con sistencies, parent-youth agreement, and associations with childhood di sorder were computed. Descriptive statistics reveal a range of scores and means consistent with norming samples, when available. Internal co nsistencies were moderate to high. Parent-youth agreement on factual i tems was excellent and on scales was consistent with the literature. S everal strong associations were found between risk factors and disorde r, although most were related to disorder in general and not specific to a diagnostic category. This instrument provides a means of obtainin g data that will be useful to researchers conducting epidemiologic and clinical studies designed to contribute to the understanding of menta l disorders in children and adolescents, including nosology, risk fact ors, context, adaptive functioning, and treatment.