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The Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program of research was initiated in response to the 1977 report of the President's Commission on Mental Health. The purpose was to collect data on the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders and on the use of and need for services by the mentally ill. Independent research teams at five universities (Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University, Duke University, and University of California at Los Angeles), in collaboration with the National Institute for Mental Health, conducted the studies with a core of common questions and sample characteristics. The sites were areas that had previously been designated as Community Mental Health Center catchment areas: New Haven, Connecticut, Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Durham, North Carolina, and Los Angeles, California. Each site sampled over 3,000 community residents and 500 residents of institutions, yielding 20,861 respondents overall. The longitudinal ECA design incorporated two waves of personal interviews administered one year apart and a brief telephone interview in between (for the household sample). The diagnostic interview used in the ECA was the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS), Version III (with the exception of the Yale Wave I survey, which used Version II). Diagnoses were categorized according to the DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS, 3rd Edition (DSM-III). Diagnoses derived from the DIS include manic episode, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, single episode major depression, recurrent major depression, atypical bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence, drug abuse or dependence, schizophrenia, schizophreniform, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, somatization, panic, antisocial personality, and anorexia nervosa. The DIS uses the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which measures cognitive functioning, as an indirect measure of the DSM-III Organic Mental Disorders. In the ECA survey, this diagnosis is called cognitive impairment.

This collection features data from 17,327 participants across 2,005 variables. Data from the Los Angeles, California, Catchment (UCLA) are not included. Baseline data (Wave 1) and Wave 2 data were linked to the National Death Index through 2007, which includes primary and contributing causes of death, International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes, and nature of injury variables.

The Iowa Adoption Studies were conducted between 1975 and 2008. The group of studies consist of 5 independent waves of data collection each of which examined genetic (biological) and environmental influences on psychopathology. The adoption paradigm allowed separation of genetic and environmental influences on behavior, as well as joint influences due to gene x environment interaction. Adoptees were interviewed about lifetime psychopathology including substance abuse and dependence, antisocial personality, and mood disorders. A follow-up study was conducted from 2000-2004 that recruited all previous participants and natural offspring of the adoptive parents when available. Standardized psychiatric assessments were administered along with measures of personality disorders and traits, retrospective reports on childhood experiences with adoptive parents, and current symptomatology. An extensive neurocognitive assessment was conducted on a subset of participants who had standardized school achievement scores. The goal of this last wave of assessment was to evaluate the influence of substance use on mid-life cognition and health.

The respondents were assessed using a number of different surveys over the study period. The following describes the notable variables as well as descriptions of the surveys included in the dataset.

The first variables in the dataset identify sibling pairs and provides data on whether the respondents' biological parents suffered from mental health or substance abuse issues. Next birth records are provided that give basic information about the health of the person when he or she was born. This information is followed by the survey results of "The Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality" (SNAP) as well as variables that reflect the diagnosis of personality disorders and nonadaptive personality traits based on the SNAP survey responses.

The next section includes responses from "The Iowa Personality Disorder Screen," a quick personality disorder screen developed in 1999 intended for use in clinical and research settings.

Next, responses to Pearson Assessments "Brief symptoms inventory" are included as well as the scores calculated based on these survey responses. The results of this survey assess the mental state of the patient including scales on Somatization, Obsessive-Compulsive, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Depression, Anxiety, Hostility, Phobic Anxiety, Paranoid Ideation and Psychoticism.

The respondents also completed the "Buss-Durkee Hostility Questionnaire" and were assessed on measure regarding the following hostility traits: negativism, resentment, indirect hostility, assault, suspicion, irritability and verbal hostility.

Reponses to the "The Social Provisions Scale" survey are also included. The purpose of this survey is to assess the relationship the respondents have to other people. The 6 social provisions assessed include: guidance, reliable alliance, reassurance of worth, attachment, social integration, and opportunity for nurturance.

"The Parental Bonding Instrument" instrument was utilized to assess the respondents' relationships to their mothers and fathers.

A series of cognitive tests were administered to respondents. ICPSR is unable to provide the survey instruments used in the cognitive test due to copy write issues. These tests include:

Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT)

North American Adult Reading Test (NAART)

Rey Figure and Rey Complex Figure Test and Recognition Trial (RCFT)

Shipley Institute of Living Scale (SILS)

Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT)

Tower of Hanoi (TofH)

Comprehensive Trailmaking Test (CTMT)

Weschler Adult Intelligence Test (WAIS)

Weschler Memory Test (WMS)

The dataset also includes respondents' results of the Comprehensive Performance Test (CPT) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)

Scores from the "Iowa Test of Basic Skills," a test of academic achievement that evaluates students knowledge in subjects including, mathematics, reading comprehension, and science, are included in the dataset. Respondents are evaluated in grades 4, 8 and 11.

The final section of the dataset includes two waves of the "Semi Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism," a survey intended to assess the physical, psychological, and social manifestations of alcohol abuse. These survey responses make up the bulk of the dataset and include variables on a variety of topics including: demographics, medical history, substance use, eating disorders, depression, dysthymia, mania, ASP, suicide, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic disorder, home environment, gambling, and ADHD. Substances use investigated includes alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, sedatives, stimulants, cocaine, opiates, solvents, hallucinogens, and other drugs.

This dataset includes 934 cases and 9,370 variables.