title: The Israel Survey of Mental Health Among Adolescents: aims and methods?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Israel Survey of Mental Health among Adolescents (ISMEHA) aimed to ascertain the prevalence of selected mental disorders and patterns of comorbidity, service utilization and unmet needs, health and sociodemographic covariates, and risk and protective factors. This paper reviews the methods used and discusses the strengths and limitations of the survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ISMEHA was a cross-sectional survey that included 957 Israeli adolescents, representative of the adolescent population aged 14-17 years. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Hebrew version (SDQ-H), the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) inventory, services utilization, health status and sociodemographic questions were administered to adolescents and their mothers at the respondents homes between January 2004 and March 2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall response rate was 68.2%, and it varied by gender and type of locality. Among boys, 71.3% responded, as compared to 65.2% among girls. The response rate among adolescents living in a Jewish or mixed city was 62.5% as compared to 89.6% among adolescents living in an exclusively Arab-populated city.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ISMEHA allows the creation of a unique and comprehensive database informing on the prevalence, burden, services utilization and unmet needs of adolescents with psychiatric disorders. These data will enable policymakers to more rationally plan services and prevention programs for the target population.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Services, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel. ivonne.mansbach@moh.health.gov.il
authors.forename: Ivonne
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mansbach-Kleinfeld
authors.forename: Daphna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Farbstein
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Apter
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Levav
authors.forename: Rasim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kanaaneh
authors.forename: Nechama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erhard
authors.forename: Hava
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Palti
authors.forename: Razek
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khwaled
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ponizovsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D041923:Adolescent Development; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors