Global mental health data initiative finds new home at U-M
By Kelsey Keeves
An influential global survey effort that collects data on the prevalence and impact of mental health conditions in the general population is transitioning to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.
The World Mental Health surveys, first launched more than 25 years ago by psychiatric epidemiologist Ronald Kessler of Harvard University, formerly of U-M, will now be directed at U-M, according to an announcement earlier this year.
This surveys’ data is used to inform policymakers about where there are unmet needs and how to best treat mental health disorders.
The effort will be led by William Axinn, research professor and director of the International Research Hub at the U-M Institute for Social Research, and Stephanie Chardoul, director of Survey Research Operations within U-M’s Survey Research Center.
“The University of Michigan has been a key contributor to the World Mental Health Consortium from the very beginning. We have deep experience with these data collections and these analyses, and we have strong relationships with the research teams in each of the countries.”
“The University of Michigan has been a key contributor to the World Mental Health Consortium from the very beginning,” Chardoul said. “We have deep experience with these data collections and these analyses, and we have strong relationships with the research teams in each of the countries.”
The global scope and scale of the surveys allow researchers unique insights into which health care strategies are most effective and where, because it gathers information from community samples on who is seeking treatment, as well as who isn’t. This makes it unique compared to most other surveys, which are distributed via health services and therefore only capture information about people who are already using health care.
In addition to assessing mental health disorder prevalence rates, the surveys collect the contextual data surrounding mental health, like the timing and sequencing of symptoms, physical health conditions, the use of mental health services and treatment, or, in many cases, the barriers to seeking care.
“The WMH studies are the only nationally representative general population data collections that actually generate clinically validated mental disorder diagnoses,” Axinn said.
The standards for the surveys’ translations are rigorous. The translated questionnaire undergoes multiple rounds of review to ensure that questions are worded appropriately for the region’s cultural context. This thorough review includes oversight from bilingual mental health experts, focus groups and in-depth interviews that explore how individuals comprehend the questions.
Researchers go through multiple iterations and stages of testing while documenting the process and adjustments made for each survey, allowing them to include the context of the surveys’ design when comparing results across regions.
The wide reach of the consortium also allows researchers to collaborate with counterparts around the world and collect data in areas that are specific to that region, but also applicable globally.
One example of this is the newest participating region, Hong Kong, which, due to its population density and the fact that the majority of the population lives in high-rise buildings, is presenting new challenges to collecting survey data.
Another example is rural Brazil, which presents another different challenge to general population data collection.
“Brazil is the largest country in Latin America, in both land area and population size,” Axinn said. “This creates tremendous potential for high diversity of both mental health and access to services for mental illness. The World Mental Health surveys are a key resource for comparing access to and use of services to treat mental illness. So, the unique setting of Brazil is exceptionally valuable for advancing our understanding of how access to services may shape the population experience of mental health and illness.”
One of the main priorities during this new phase of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative is to create a publicly available cross-country data set. The Survey Research Center is developing a new secure data enclave to manage these datasets, with a series of complex data use agreements with each country, and is also partnering with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Science Research, also located at U-M’s Institute for Social Research, to create and maintain the resource. This will provide scientists around the world with a new ability to utilize the data and expand the scope of their work.
The surveys are also a way for researchers to understand how mental health has changed over time. Japan has just completed its second national survey, its first since 2005, which will provide valuable insight into how mental health and the beliefs around it have changed in the past two decades.
“Just as with the original surveys, this new generation of studies is designed to support decades of careful, cross-country comparative analyses that can guide public policy, community-based interventions and clinical services,” Chardoul said.