Updated_2023_NSDUH_Nonsubstantive_Justification_Memo_Revised_12-21-22

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

NATIONAL SURVEY ON DRUG USE AND HEALTH

In October 2022, SAMHSA received approval to make non-substantive changes for the 2023 survey year. Since that approval, we have made minor wording changes to (7) documents in response to comments received from the RTI Institutional Review Board.

For context, Appendix A shows the changes that were approved for 2023 in October. Below we list the changes since the October clearance.

List of IRB related changes:

Attachment J. Study Description

• Revised the 2^nd sentence in the 2^nd paragraph to “Your name and address will never be connected to your answers to the interview questions.”

Attachment K. Web Study Description

• Revised the 2^nd sentence in the 2^nd paragraph to “Your name and address will never be connected to your answers to the interview questions.”

MICS OMB Addendum

• Updated overall language regarding the changes made to the MICS attachments (below) into various sections of the addendum per IRB’s requirements.

Attachment MICS-1_Blaise Instrument Specs

• Revised 2^nd to the last sentence in the 2^nd paragraph for C3 to “If you agree to be recorded, please know that your recording and interview responses may be de-identified and used for quality or training purposes for this research project, but will not be used for other research studies in the future.”

• Revised 1^st sentence of the 2^nd paragraph for C3_INT to “If you would like to know the full risks and benefits of the study, and how your information will be used, I can read the more detailed informed consent to you now, or you can read it at https://nsduhappt.rti.org.”

Attachment MICS-4_MICS Informed Consent

• Revised 2^nd to the last sentence in the 2^nd paragraph to “If you agree to be recorded, please know that your recording and interview responses may be de-identified and used for quality or training purposes for this research project, but will not be used for other research studies in the future.”

• Revised 1^st sentence of the 4^th paragraph to “If you would like to know the full risks and benefits of the study, and how your information will be used, I can read the more detailed informed consent to you now, or you can read it at https://nsduhappt.rti.org.”

Attachment MICS-6_NSDUH CAI MICS Recruitment Scripts

• RECRUIT1(in-person and web specs) – Revised 2^nd sentence “. For this research study, we are selecting a mix of people, including those who have mental health issues and those who don’t, to complete an interview about mental health.”

• RECRQR (in-person specs) and POSTEXIT (web interview specs) – Added one sentence that reads “Please try to schedule your follow-up appointment as close as possible to this interview.”

Attachment MICS-9 Text System Messages

• Revised to include “Reply with ‘STOP’ to opt-out of receiving text messages” to each of the automated text messages.

• Revised to include after opting out of receiving additional text messages, MICS respondents will receive one final text message that says “You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number.””

Appendix A: October Changes Approved

• Conduct the 2023 NSDUH using the sample design that was approved for 2022 with the following changes:

  • Elimination of selecting smaller area segments within the secondary sampling units (SSUs; one or more Census Block Groups) to reduce intracluster correlation and increase precision;

  • Implementation of eListing (electronic dwelling unit [DU] enumeration), as opposed to pencil and paper, to construct dwelling unit frames in areas requiring field enumeration.

• Conduct the 2023 NSDUH using the web-based and in-person screening instruments that were approved for 2022 with the following changes:

  • Addition of new and revised questions designed to measure sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in youths and adults; and

  • Revision of pronoun fills throughout the instruments to reflect the new gender identity questions.

• Conduct the 2023 NSDUH using the web-based and in-person interview instruments that were approved for 2022 with the following changes:

  • Addition of new and revised questions designed to measure sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in youths and adults;

  • Revision of pronoun fills throughout the instruments to reflect the new gender identity questions;

  • Revision of items (including response options) throughout the instruments to include gender neutral language;

  • Addition of “Puerto Rico” as a possible location for a respondent to live and to all STATE FILL locations throughout the instruments;

  • Removal of questions asking about medication assisted treatment for alcohol and opioid use from the Emerging Issues module to avoid duplication with questions in the Alcohol and Drug Treatment module; and

  • Inclusion of Mental Illness Calibration Study (MICS) recruitment screens at the end of the main study instruments.

• Conduct the 2023 NSDUH using the in-person interview instrument that was approved for 2022 with the relocation of several items from an interviewer-administered mode to a self-administered mode.

• Conduct the 2023 NSDUH using three new and two revised respondent materials.

• Conduct the 2023 MICS to recalibrate the estimates of serious mental illness (SMI) for the NSDUH using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), fifth edition (DSM-5) criteria.

• Conduct the NSDUH Incentives Experiment in Quarter 4 (October, November, and December) of 2022 (Note – Overall plans for the NSDUH Incentives Experiment were approved under the 2022 NSDUH, OMB No. 0930-0110).

• Explore logistical consideration in expanding data collection to Puerto Rico in the Spring of 2023, followed by a small data collection effort of up to 100 interviews.

Estimates of Annualized Burden Hours and Costs (October 2023)

Burden Hours for 2023 NSDUH Main Study with MICS

This submission requests OMB approval for revisions to the current NSDUH instruments, the use of new and revised respondent materials, and to conduct the MICS in 2023. The addition of new and revised SOGI questions is expected to add approximately 0.006 hours of extra burden per household screening and approximately 0.008 hours of extra burden per interview respondent. Also, the addition of the MICS is expected to add approximately 1.0 hours of extra burden per respondent completing the clinical interview. Table 1 below shows the estimated 2023 annualized respondent burden hours with the new SOGI questions and the MICS.

Table 1. Estimated 2023 Interview Respondent Burden Hours with New SOGI Questions and MICS

Response	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
Household Screenings prior to New Household Screening SOGI Items	157,748	1	0.083	13,093
New Household Screening SOGI Items	157,748	1	0.006	947
Total 2023 Annual Household Screening Burden	157,748	1	0.089	14,040
Main Study Interviews prior to New Interview SOGI Items and MICS	67,607	1	1	67,607
Main Study New Interview SOGI Items	67,607	1	0.008	541
MICS	2,0001	1	1	2,000
Total 2023 Annual Interview Burden	67,607	1	1.008	70,148
Total 2023 Annual Burden	225,355			84,188

Because the NSDUH Incentives Experiment will be embedded within 2022 Quarter 4 (October, November, and December) NSDUH main study data collection, there will be no increase to the annualized burden hours for the 2022 NSDUH.

References

Gelman, A., Stevens, M., & Chan, V. (2002). Regression modeling and meta-analysis for decision making: A cost-benefit analysis of incentives in telephone surveys. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 21, 213-225. https://doi.org/10.1198/073500103288618909

Singer, E. (2002). The use of incentives to reduce nonresponse in household surveys. In R. M. Groves, D. A. Dillman, J. L. Eltinge, & R. J. A. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 163-177). New York, NY: Wiley.

Singer, E., & Ye, C. (2013). The use and effects of incentives in surveys. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 645, 112–141.

1 The 2,000 MICS respondents are a subset of the 68,460 main study interview respondents.

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