1. Measuring Mental Disorders
Tamsin Ford, University of Exeter
What the survey was about
Why did we need to collect it
And what did we hope to achieve from this survey

2. The assessment of mental health conditions
DAWBA – validated standardised diagnostic interview based on DSM-5 and ICD-10 criteria
Broad – covers comorbid disorders
Validated for 2-18 year olds
Efficient: ‘Skip rules’
Continuity with previous surveys – acceptable and feasible

3. Why use multiple informants
increase validity (Versions for children aged 11 plus, teachers and parents)
Increase clinical relevance
But introduces potential disagreement – from 1999 and 2004, intercorrelations on the SDQ scores between parents, young people and teachers ranged from

4. Teacher Questionnaire
Survey link sent in an from the office
Teachers of children aged 5-16
Parental consent to contact a teacher
Teacher’s name and address collected in CAPI using the school look-up called Edubase
Online self-completion questionnaire with option for paper questionnaire if no response from teacher to online survey.
sent out from the office with a link to the online survey
At the end of the parent CAPI, parents of 5-16 year olds are asked for permission to contact a teacher (one they feel knows their child the most)
If the parent agrees, you will collect the teacher’s name and address in CAPI

5. Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Any disorder
Emotional
Depression
Anxiety
Behavioural
Oppositional defiant disorder
A number of conduct disorders
Hyperactivity
Hyperkinetic disorder
Other hyperactivity disorder
Other Less Common
Autism spectrum disorder
Eating disorder, Tic disorder and others
The survey is distinctive because it examined different types of disorder.
Emotional disorders, Include anxiety and depression.
Behavioural disorders, including oppositional defiant disorder and a number of other conduct disorders.
Hyperactivity disorders Hyperactivity disorder includes a more restrictive set of criteria than ADHD, so prevalence reported here is likely lower than the prevalence of ADHD.
Other less common disorders Includes autism spectrum disorders (ASD), eating disorders, tic disorders, and a number of conditions experienced rarely in children.

6. Types of anxiety disorder
Separation anxiety
Specific phobia
Social phobia
Panic and agoraphobia
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Generalised anxiety disorder
Body dysmorphic disorder

7. Why clinical rating?
Highly structured questions relating to diagnostic criteria (highly structured assessments are very reliable but not always valid
Informants prompted to provide qualitative data about difficulties, (semi-structured data is highly valid but not always reliable)
Disagreements between informants; who is right?
Not otherwise specified diagnoses
2 clinical raters independently rated 500 children in the 1999 survey: ₭ = 0.86 for any disorder 0.57 for emotional disorders & 0.98 for externalising disorders