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Overview
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Background
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Significance
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Questionnaires
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Investigators
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NSAL Publications
Overview
The
primary goal of the NSAL was to
gather data about the physical,
emotional, mental, structural,
and economic conditions of Black
Americans at the beginning of
the new century. The PRBA hopes
that the information gathered
will contribute to more
consistent improvements in the
quality of life for Black
Americans and aid in reversing
the deterioration that has
occurred over the prior two
decades (see significance
section).
Interviews occurred throughout
the United States in urban and
rural centers of the country
where significant numbers of
Black Americans reside. A total
of 6,082 face-to-face interviews
were conducted with persons aged
18 or older, 3,570 African
Americans, 891 non-Hispanic
whites, and, for the first time
in a national survey, 1,621
Black respondents of Caribbean
descent. The survey included
state-of-the-art assessments of
psychological distress and
mental disorders and questions
about neighborhood
characteristics, religion,
health and work.
Interviews were also taken with
approximately 1,170 adolescents
(persons aged 13-17) using a
similar questionnaire. One of
the parents or guardians of the
adolescent was also asked to
complete a separate paper
questionnaire about the
adolescent at the same time that
the adolescent interview was
being conducted.
In addition, over 10% (N = 677)
of the NSAL adult respondents
were re-interviewed using a
modified version of the
Structured Clinical Interview
for DSM-IV (SCID) and various
severity scales in order to
examine concordance between the
lay-administered DSM-IV World
Mental Health CIDI (WMH-CIDI)
diagnoses and those assessed via
the SCID. Results from this
study will shed light on the
nature of CIDI diagnoses among
members of different race/ethnic
groups.
Data from the NSAL, NLAAS, NCS-R
and CPES adult surveys are now
available through the
Inter-University Corsortium for
Political and Social Research
(ICPSR) at the University of
Michigan.
Background
NSAL builds upon the PRBA’s
National Survey of Black
Americans (NSBA) – a
national probability study
of 2,107 self-identified
black Americans 18 years of
age and older interviewed in
1979-1980. The NSBA
respondents were recontacted
three times -- eight, nine
and twelve years after the
initial interview, forming
the four-wave National Panel
Survey of Black Americans (NPSBA).
No other study, to our
knowledge, has assessed
rates of psychological
distress and serious mental
problems along with a
wide-range of social,
political and economic
factors, in a large,
representative longitudinal
national sample of Black
Americans.
Significance
Though the 20th century saw
structural, social and economic
improvements, today African
Americans on average remain
worse off than the general
population on almost every
important social indicator –
infant mortality, crude death
rates, health care, wealth and
income, housing and poverty.
This is especially important as
the African American population,
along with the population
overall, ages. As African
Americans live longer, adverse
economic and health conditions
throughout the lifespan become
exacerbated. The failure to gain
educational and related social
and material resources continues
to have a profound effect on the
ability of African Americans to
capitalize upon changes in the
economy or to respond to other
social and legal opportunities
that become available.
The data collected through NSAL
will be invaluable in providing
a social scientific and policy
base for understanding and
addressing the status and
circumstances of the African
American population. It is our
expectation that these data will
shed light on the situation of
African Americans as we move
into a new and more socially,
politically, and economically
complex century.
Questionnaires
NSAL Adult Questionnaire
Adolescent Questionnaire
Parent Self-Administered
Questionnaire - Long Version
Parent Self-Administered
Questionnaire - Short Version
Structured Clinical Interview
Diagnostic Instrument (SCID)
Investigators
PRBA'S goal is to produce
high quality national survey
research on Black Americans.
PBRA has over 90 scholars,
research assistants, and
graduate students from a
wide array of disciplines
committed to distinctive
research. Project
Investigators for the NSAL
include:
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