DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36380
title: National Survey of American Life - Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), 2001-2004
title: Archival Version

description: The National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), 2001-2004, was designed to estimate the lifetime-to-date and current prevalence, age-of-onset distributions, course, and comorbidity of DSM-IV disorders among African American and Caribbean adolescents in the United States; to identify risk and protective factors for the onset and persistence of these disorders; to describe patterns and correlates of service use for these disorders; and to lay the groundwork for subsequent follow-up studies that can be used to identify early expressions of adult mental disorders. In addition and similar to the NSAL adult dataset (Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001-2003 [United States] (ICPSR 20240)), the adolescent dataset contains detailed measures of health; social conditions; stressors; distress; racial identity; subjective, neighborhood conditions; activities and school; media; and social and psychological protective and risk factors. Numerous variables from the adult dataset have been merged into the adolescent dataset, as the NSAL adult and adolescent respondents reside in the same households. Some of these variables apply to the entire household (i.e. region, urbanicity, and family income), while others apply specifically to the NSAL adult respondent living in the adolescent's household (i.e. adult years of education, adult marital status, and adult nativity [foreign-born vs. US born]). The immigration measures were asked of Caribbean black adult respondents only. No comparable measures assess the immigration and generational status of the Caribbean black adolescent respondents. The adult dataset measures are merged into the adolescent dataset to assist in approximating these measures for adolescent respondents. The NSAL adolescent dataset also includes variables for other non-core and experimental disorders. These include tobacco use/nicotine dependence, premenstrual syndrome, minor depression, recurrent brief depression, hypomania, and hypomania sub-threshold. Demographic variables include age, race and ethnicity, ancestry or national origins, height, weight, marital status, income, and education level.
description: The study was part of the NIMH Collaborative Epidemiology Survey (CPES) initiative that included three national representative surveys - the NSAL, the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), and the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS).
description: The NSAL data collection was based on a multi-stage area probability sample using a stratified and clustered sample design, resulting in the creation of the variables stratum and cluster. The first stage of selection used a stratification approach of selecting 64 Primary Sample Units (PSUs) for the Core sample and an additional 8 PSUs for the Caribbean Supplement. The second stage of selection used a clustering approach of selecting area segments within each PSU. Clustering was used to reduce the cost of data collection since groups (clusters) of frame elements, rather than individual frame elements, were selected for inclusion in a study.
description: Similarly to the NSAL adult dataset, the adolescent dataset contains detailed measures of health; mental disorders; social conditions; stressors; distress; racial identity; subjective, neighborhood conditions; activities and school; media; and social and psychological protective and risk factors. All variables are documented in either the NSAL Adolescent Codebook, or the Derived Variables supplement to the NSAL Adolescent Codebook (ICPSR 20240).
description: Weights were created to account for unequal probabilities of selection, non-response, and post-stratification. The sum of the adolescent population weights (adolpswg) is 3,286,117, the number of adolescents across the US who live in areas where Blacks live. Similar to the adult dataset, there is a centered adolescent weight (wgtcent), which is a rescaled version of the adolescent population weight. When the centered adolescent weights are added, the sum is equal to the NSAL adolescent sample size of 1170. An adolescent weight should always be used when analyzing adolescent data, and also when conducting any analyses where any variables from the adolescent dataset are included.
More information can be found in the following: Heeringa, S.G., Wagner, J., Torres, M., Duan, N., Adams, T., Berglund, P. (2004). Sample designs and sampling methods for the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13, 221-240.
description: Response Rates: The final overall response rate for the adolescent sample was 80.6 percent, with response rates of 80.4 percent and 83.5 percent for African American and Caribbean Black adolescents, respectively.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Level of impairment associated with many of the individual disorders was assessed by the Sheehan Disability Scale. This scale assesses disability in the domains of home, work, relationships, and social life, and was assessed for depression, mania, irritable major depression, panic, social phobia, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and oppositional defiant disorder.
description: Data were collected using a stratified and clustered sample design. The NSAL sample included 66 strata, most of which contain two clusters. One Caribbean stratum, however, included eight clusters. Thus, the total number of clusters for the NSAL is 138. Greater detail on how the NSAL strata and clusters were created from the PSUs and segments can be found in the following publications including the NSAL technical report on sample design, weighting and variance estimation:

Heeringa, S.G., Wagner, J., Torres, M., Duan, N., Adams, T., Berglund, P. (2004). Sample designs and sampling methods for the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13, 221-240.
Jackson, J. S., Torres, M., Caldwell, C. H., Neighbors, H. W., Nesse, R. M., Taylor, R. J., Trierweiler, S. J., et al. (2004). The National Survey of American Life: A Study of Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Influences on Mental Disorders and Mental Health. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 13(4), 196-207.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Public Use Data
DS2: Restricted Use Data
description: Interviews were conducted with 1170 African American and Caribbean Black adolescents 13-17 years of age who were attached to the NSAL adult households. There were no adolescent White respondents. Some survey items were asked of only males or females: Adolescent males only were administered SS46-SS51 (non-residential father issues) and HE21-HE23 (male pubertal development), while adolescent females only were administered SS39-SS45 (non-residential father issues) and PR1-PR50 (women's health section). Smallest Geographic Unit: State
description: face-to-face interviewAt the time of data release, August 2016, these data may NOT be merged with the NSAL (ICPSR 20240: DS3) or NSAL SAQ (ICPSR 27121) data. Not all adults in the NSAL adolescent sampled household units were parents of the adolescents. This makes a large difference because of the adolescent disorders that depend upon "parental" reports. As new files and/or information are received, ICPSR will update the study accordingly.There will be some follow-up data sets and updates to this collection in the future.Additional information on the National Survey of American Life - Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A) can be found by visiting The National Survey of American Life project Web site.