Published in:
01-01-2015 | Original Article
Neighborhood Sociodemographic Predictors of Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) in Schools: Demonstrating a Small Area Estimation Method in the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS-A) Adolescent Supplement
Authors:
Jennifer Greif Green, Margarita Alegría, Ronald C. Kessler, Katie A. McLaughlin, Michael J. Gruber, Nancy A. Sampson, Alan M. Zaslavsky
Published in:
Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research
|
Issue 1/2015
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Abstract
We evaluate the precision of a model estimating school prevalence of SED using a small area estimation method based on readily-available predictors from area-level census block data and school principal questionnaires. Adolescents at 314 schools participated in the National Comorbidity Supplement, a national survey of DSM-IV disorders among adolescents. A multilevel model indicated that predictors accounted for under half of the variance in school-level SED and even less when considering block-group predictors or principal report alone. While Census measures and principal questionnaires are significant predictors of individual-level SED, associations are too weak to generate precise school-level predictions of SED prevalence.