The fieldwork for the 2014 OCHS was conducted by Statistics Canada, the federal statistical agency responsible for collecting and analyzing data at both the national and provincial levels, including the Canada Census and Labour Force surveys. Data collection took place from Oct 2014 to Sept 2015. Interviewers were assigned selected households listed on the CCTB file with one or more children aged 4 to 17 years in those residential areas sampled for the study. Interviewers telephoned or visited the household in person, asked to speak with the person most knowledgeable (PMK) about the household, presented the study, screened for eligibility, and, through the PMK, invited eligible families within these households to participate.
After collecting basic information on all household members and identifying the PMK (mothers in 88.3% of families), interviewers scheduled home interviews at times convenient to families. A common set of measures were used for up to 4 children aged 4 to 17 years (selected randomly in families with more than 4). In addition to these common measures, one of these children was identified randomly as the “selected child” who had enriched assessments that included the parent (of 4- to 17-year-olds) and youth (12- to 17-year-olds) versions of the MINI-KID.
Figure 3 shows informants linked with selected concepts (see supplemental Appendix for more detailed information). A computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) with the PMK was used to obtain information about all participating children aged 4 to 17 years (i.e., birth history, physical health, service use, activities, and school); and the family (i.e., housing, immigrant/refugee status, and socio-demography). To facilitate disclosure, the PMK answered personal questions on a laptop about their substance use, personal mental health, and perceptions of neighbourhood characteristics. Parent assessments of childhood mental disorder were obtained by: 1) an interviewer-administered paper version of the MINI-KID about the selected child; and 2) a paper and pencil self-report checklist of emotional and behavioural problems applicable to all participating children (OCHS-EBS and items measuring the disorders in the 1983 OCHS). A paper and pencil questionnaire was used to keep the mode of data collection (structure, ordering and content) as similar as possible to the 1983 study. Finally, a paper and pencil questionnaire was left for the PMK’s spouse/partner to complete and return by mail (3,133 [62.1%] response among 2-parent households). This questionnaire included checklist assessments of the selected child’s emotional-behavioural problems, their impact on the family, and the physical and mental health of the spouse/partner, their parenting behaviour and childhood exposure to violence.
All adolescents aged 12 to 17 years willing to participate in the study completed a laptop questionnaire in private. Youth were asked questions on different aspects of their health, school, social relationships and other activities, such as work and civic engagement. Modules on sensitive topics, such as anti-social behaviour, self-harm, suicidal behaviour, and exposure to maltreatment, were administered only to youth aged 14 to 17 years. Finally, if the 12- to 17-year-old was also the selected child in the family, s/he was administered the youth version of the MINI-KID.
Before leaving the household, interviewers asked for signed parental consent to request teacher assessments for children attending elementary school. Based on a mailed survey, we obtained teacher assessments of child emotional and behavioural problems, social relationships, and academic achievements on 3,072 children (38.9% of 4- to 13-year-olds). Interviewers also asked parents for their consent to share their identifying information with the MOHLTC (6,173 [94.4%] agreement) to facilitate linkage with administrative records.
The 2014 OCHS was a voluntary survey conducted under the Statistics Act, which provides respondents guarantees of their privacy and confidentially. Parents and children were asked without coercion for their consent to participate. The study procedures were approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board at McMaster University and Research Ethics Committees at participating School Boards. Interviews were conducted in either English or French, depending on respondent preference. All assessment data underwent qualitative interview testing in a pilot phase, and interviewer training, data collection, and information processing were performed according to standardized procedures developed by Statistics Canada. A sub-sample of 180 households with 280 children participated in a test-retest reliability study of all the 2014 OCHS measures.
After collecting basic information on all household members and identifying the PMK (mothers in 88.3% of families), interviewers scheduled home interviews at times convenient to families. A common set of measures were used for up to 4 children aged 4 to 17 years (selected randomly in families with more than 4). In addition to these common measures, one of these children was identified randomly as the “selected child” who had enriched assessments that included the parent (of 4- to 17-year-olds) and youth (12- to 17-year-olds) versions of the MINI-KID.
All adolescents aged 12 to 17 years willing to participate in the study completed a laptop questionnaire in private. Youth were asked questions on different aspects of their health, school, social relationships and other activities, such as work and civic engagement. Modules on sensitive topics, such as anti-social behaviour, self-harm, suicidal behaviour, and exposure to maltreatment, were administered only to youth aged 14 to 17 years. Finally, if the 12- to 17-year-old was also the selected child in the family, s/he was administered the youth version of the MINI-KID.
Before leaving the household, interviewers asked for signed parental consent to request teacher assessments for children attending elementary school. Based on a mailed survey, we obtained teacher assessments of child emotional and behavioural problems, social relationships, and academic achievements on 3,072 children (38.9% of 4- to 13-year-olds). Interviewers also asked parents for their consent to share their identifying information with the MOHLTC (6,173 [94.4%] agreement) to facilitate linkage with administrative records.
The 2014 OCHS was a voluntary survey conducted under the Statistics Act, which provides respondents guarantees of their privacy and confidentially. Parents and children were asked without coercion for their consent to participate. The study procedures were approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board at McMaster University and Research Ethics Committees at participating School Boards. Interviews were conducted in either English or French, depending on respondent preference. All assessment data underwent qualitative interview testing in a pilot phase, and interviewer training, data collection, and information processing were performed according to standardized procedures developed by Statistics Canada. A sub-sample of 180 households with 280 children participated in a test-retest reliability study of all the 2014 OCHS measures.
