World Mental Health Survey, Northern Ireland, 2004-2008 (ICPSR 39555)

Version Date: Jul 22, 2026

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Principal Investigator(s):
Brendan Bunting, University of Ulster; Siobhan O'Neill, University of Ulster; Sam Murphy, University of Ulster; Jordi Alonso, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39555.v1

Version V1

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Summary

The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative was a coordinated series of general population surveys of mental, substance use, and behavioral disorders conducted in countries across all World Health Organization (WHO) regions. The approach taken by WMH was to conduct rigorous general population surveys in nationally representative samples in many countries throughout the world, to generate data from these surveys on the prevalence, severity, course, and treatment of mental disorders. Data were collected using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) which uses both ICD-10 and DSM-III diagnostic criteria. This survey was conducted in Northern Ireland and utilized the English version of the CIDI.

Citation

Bunting, Brendan, O’Neill, Siobhan, Murphy, Sam, and Alonso, Jordi. World Mental Health Survey, Northern Ireland, 2004-2008. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-07-22. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39555.v1

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Funding

Northern Ireland. Public Health Agency, United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH070884), John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, United States. Public Health Service (R13-MH066849; R01-MH069864, R01-DA016558), United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. Fogarty International Center (R03-TW006481), Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly and Company, Ortho-McNeil, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

Country

Restrictions

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, the data file in this collection is restricted from general dissemination. To obtain this restricted file, researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2004 -- 2008

Data Collection Notes

  1. For additional information on the World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative, please visit the World Mental Health Survey Initiative website.

  2. Supporting documentation to distinguish Part I and II of the survey was not included. Users can utilize crosstabs on the weight variables FINALP1WT and FINALP2WT to determine whether variables in Datasets 1 and 2 were derived from Part I or II of the survey:

    • If a participant without valid values for FINALP2WT responded to a variable, that variable is in Part I of the survey.
    • Variables that only have responses from participants with FINALP2WT valid values are in Part II of the survey.

  3. The Restricted-Use Raw Northern Ireland Data were provided without complete variable and value labels, but with a P.I. Questionnaire. This Raw dataset and the corresponding documents are released to provide supplemental information. The Raw dataset is released as Restricted-Use because it contains the original, more granular variables that were used to create the constructed variables in the Public-Use Cleaned Northern Ireland Data and the Restricted-Use Cleaned Northern Ireland Data.

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Study Purpose

The WMH Survey Initiative was designed to fill major gaps in global mental health data. Earlier estimates of the burden of mental and addictive disorders relied largely on literature reviews and isolated studies. WMH surveys provide nationally or regionally representative data to:

  • Estimate the prevalence and distribution of mental, substance use, and behavioral disorders
  • Identify risk and protective factors to inform prevention and intervention strategies
  • Describe patterns of service use, unmet need, and barriers to care
  • Improve estimates of the global burden of disease attributable to mental disorders for public health planning

Study Design

The survey was administered in two parts. Part I was administered to all respondents. Part II was administered to a probability sub-sample of respondents based on responses to the Part I questions. In addition, a probability subsample of other Part I respondents (i.e., those who did not meet criteria for any core disorder) was also selected to complete Part II, while interviews with the remaining non-cases were ended after the completion of the Part I questions.

Sample

3 design stages; (1) stratification by local government districts; (2) wards; (3) census output areas (and information available from the last census)

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

English speaking adults aged 18 or older in Northern Ireland

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Response Rates

The overall response rate to this survey was 68.4 percent.

Presence of Common Scales

All countries that participated in the WMH Survey Initiative administered Version 3.0 of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), a fully structured interview that is designed to be used by trained lay interviewers to generate diagnoses according to the definitions and criteria of both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and the WHO International Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders (ICD-10).

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Original Release Date

2026-07-22

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Weight

The final analysis weight (FINALP1WT) for each respondent was computed as the product of three weight components: the selection weight factor for the respondent, the nonresponse weight adjustment factor for the respondent, and the post-stratification factor for the respondent. The final analysis weight (FINALP2WT) for each respondent administered Part II was computed similarly to FINALP1WT for that subsample of respondents. As a practical matter for analysts, the following decision rules should be applied when selecting the weight to use. When using only variables from Part I, the FINALP1WT weight variable should be used. For analyses with only Part II or a combination of Part I and Part II variables, the Part II weight or FINALP2WT should be used.

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Notes