Table A1.
Description of Outcome Variables Included in Study.
| Name of Variable | Level of Measurement | Survey Question | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depressive Thoughts in the Past Month | Binary (Yes, No) | “During the past month, about how often did you feel sad or depressed?” | Those who responded all of the time, most of the time, some of the time were coded into the “yes” group. All other respondents were coded into the “no” group. |
| Major Depressive Episodes in the Past Year | Binary (Yes, No) | The Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form (CIDI-SF) measures Major Depressive Episodes (MDE). This subset of questions assesses the depressive symptoms of respondents who felt depressed or lost interest in things for 2 weeks or more in the last 12 months. Respondents are screened into the CIDI-SF based on affirmative responses to the following 2 screening questions, if a respondent answers affirmatively to the screening questions, their depression level is measured based on 7 additional questions. | The classification of depression is based on an affirmative response to the original screening question and 5 out of 9 of the depression questions. This corresponds to a 90% predictive probability of caseness, which closely aligns with the DSM-5 diagnostic guidelines for MDE in adults (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This probability expresses the chance that the respondent would have been diagnosed as having experienced a Major Depressive Episode in the past 12 months had they completed the CIDI Long-Form (Statistics Canada, 2007). |
| Anxiety Disorder | Binary (Yes, No) | “Do you have an anxiety disorder such as phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder or a panic disorder?” | Respondents are reminded that the question is only referring to those conditions diagnosed by a health professional in the past 6 months. |
| Mood Disorder | Binary (Yes, No) | “Do you have a mood disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, mania or dysthymia?” | Respondents are reminded that the question only refers to those conditions diagnosed by a health professional in the past 6 months. |
| Suicidal Thoughts in the Past Year | Binary (Yes, No) | “Have you ever seriously considered committing suicide or taking your own life? Has this happened in the past 12 months?” | This variable was recoded into a dichotomous variable. In addition, those who answered “not applicable: were coded into the ”no” group, given they answered negatively to this question in an earlier prompt. |
| Self-Reported Mental Health Status | Binary (Fair/Poor, Good/Very Good/Excellent) | “In general, would you say your mental health is: excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?” | This variable was recoded into a dichotomous variable. “Fair/poor” or “Good/very good/excellent”. This variable has been validated and is a reliable measure of general mental health (Mawani & Gilmour, 2010) |