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 [53]. 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 [30]. |
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. |
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. |
Suicidal Thoughts in the Past Month |
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 [54]. |