Based on the recommendations of the landmark Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health12 and the recommendations of a subgroup of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) National Advisory Mental Health Council,13 the NIMH established several research initiatives to address the lack of national statistics on mental health in children. Instruments for assessing mental health were added to two large national surveys including the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to the National Health Interview Survey,14 and selected modules from the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) Version 415 to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.11 In addition to these measures, the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R)16 was extended to assess a broad range of DSM-IV disorders in a nationally representative sample of youth aged 13–18 years, referred to as the National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A).17–20
