NLS Listening Sessions Handout - Mental Health

Thank you for your willingness to contribute to our listening session, which is part of an effort to plan
for a potential NLSY26 cohort. We have provided a few topics and background information to help get
your thoughts flowing before your session.
Example questions to help you brainstorm before attending the listening session
• What measures of mental health are essential to capture from adolescents to study the relationship
between early mental health and labor market outcomes? Why?
• What mental health trends should BLS consider in designing the new NLSY26 cohort?
• What types of sampling and methodology should the potential NLSY26 cohort consider when
collecting mental health data?
• What datasets do you currently use for your mental health research and why?
Past content and feedback BLS received from other stakeholders for a new youth cohort
1. What has been collected by the NLSY79 and NLSY97 on mental health?
• Depression and Anxiety scales including:
o Self- reported mental health measures (SF-12)
o Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)
o Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
o 5-item short version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5)
2. General themes from outreach that BLS conducted with Federal agencies and departments.
• Experiences of discrimination
o Major Experiences of Discrimination
o Everyday Discrimination Scale
• Social isolation and loneliness
• Measuring ‘soft’ or ‘non-cognitive’ skills, such as executive function and self-regulation that help
people cope with or manage mental health.