Table of Contents

Component Description

Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a nine-item screening instrument that asks questions about the frequency of symptoms of depression over the past 2 weeks. A final follow-up question assesses the overall impairment of the depressive symptoms. Response categories "not at all," "several days," "more than half the days" and "nearly every day" were given a score ranging from 0 to 3. A total score was calculated ranging from 0 to 27. A score of 10 or higher has been well validated and is commonly used in clinical studies to define depression. Other methods for defining depression based on this instrument are also used.

Eligible Sample

Mobile examination center participants 12 years and older were eligible. No proxies were permitted to answer these questions. Only data from youths aged 12-17 years are included in this restricted data file. A public use data file DPQ_G is available for adults 18+ years.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

These questions were asked  by trained interviewers in Spanish or English using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) system during the MEC private interview.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in defining key terms used in the questionnaire.

Approximately 5% of the interviews were recorded and reviewed for quality control purposes.

Data Processing and Editing

Edits were made to ensure the completeness, consistency and analytic usefulness of the data.

Analytic Notes

Depression and depression severity have been defined using various methods in the scientific literature. Researchers may want to pay special attention to records with item non-response (questions that have missing, "don't know" or "refusal" responses) in deriving a score or severity measure.

MEC exam sample weights should be used for the analyses.

Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues.

References

Codebook and Frequencies

SEQN - Respondent sequence number

Variable Name:
SEQN
SAS Label:
Respondent sequence number
English Text:
Respondent sequence number.
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS

DPQ010 - Have little interest in doing things

Variable Name:
DPQ010
SAS Label:
Have little interest in doing things
English Text:
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems: little interest or pleasure in doing things? Would you say...
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 613 613
1 Several days 246 859
2 More than half the days 59 918
3 Nearly every day 19 937
7 Refused 0 937
9 Don't know 1 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ020 - Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless

Variable Name:
DPQ020
SAS Label:
Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 687 687
1 Several days 194 881
2 More than half the days 38 919
3 Nearly every day 19 938
7 Refused 0 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ030 - Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

Variable Name:
DPQ030
SAS Label:
Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 542 542
1 Several days 268 810
2 More than half the days 76 886
3 Nearly every day 52 938
7 Refused 0 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ040 - Feeling tired or having little energy

Variable Name:
DPQ040
SAS Label:
Feeling tired or having little energy
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] feeling tired or having little energy?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 472 472
1 Several days 342 814
2 More than half the days 84 898
3 Nearly every day 40 938
7 Refused 0 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ050 - Poor appetite or overeating

Variable Name:
DPQ050
SAS Label:
Poor appetite or overeating
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] poor appetite or overeating?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 686 686
1 Several days 177 863
2 More than half the days 46 909
3 Nearly every day 29 938
7 Refused 0 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ060 - Feeling bad about yourself

Variable Name:
DPQ060
SAS Label:
Feeling bad about yourself
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] feeling bad about yourself - or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 742 742
1 Several days 135 877
2 More than half the days 41 918
3 Nearly every day 20 938
7 Refused 0 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ070 - Trouble concentrating on things

Variable Name:
DPQ070
SAS Label:
Trouble concentrating on things
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching TV?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 654 654
1 Several days 198 852
2 More than half the days 49 901
3 Nearly every day 37 938
7 Refused 0 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ080 - Moving or speaking slowly or too fast

Variable Name:
DPQ080
SAS Label:
Moving or speaking slowly or too fast
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed? Or the opposite - being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 779 779
1 Several days 130 909
2 More than half the days 19 928
3 Nearly every day 9 937
7 Refused 0 937
9 Don't know 1 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ090 - Thought you would be better off dead

Variable Name:
DPQ090
SAS Label:
Thought you would be better off dead
English Text:
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems: Thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way?
English Instructions:
HAND CARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 869 869
1 Several days 54 923
2 More than half the days 8 931
3 Nearly every day 6 937
7 Refused 1 938
9 Don't know 0 938
. Missing 71 1009

DPQ100 - Difficulty these problems have caused

Variable Name:
DPQ100
SAS Label:
Difficulty these problems have caused
English Text:
How difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home, or get along with people?
Target:
Both males and females 12 YEARS - 17 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all difficult 485 485
1 Somewhat difficult 214 699
2 Very difficult 14 713
3 Extremely difficult 3 716
7 Refused 0 716
9 Don't know 0 716
. Missing 293 1009