Developmental Epidemiology Instruments

A team of researchers in Duke Psychiatry—in collaboration with colleagues in the Duke School of Medicine and other institutions—is working to advance the understanding of the origins, course and prevention of mental illness across the course of life. 

Our longest-running study, the Great Smoky Mountains Study, is a longitudinal assessment of the development of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders and access to mental health care in a representative sample of 1,400 children and adolescents living in the southeastern United States. 

We’ve developed a number of assessment measures that have since been validated and are now available to other researchers. Training, which is provided by our team, is required to administer most of the measures. In addition, our team has developed and validated an extensive picture set with high quality, color images of the emotional faces of children.

Read on to learn more about our assessment measures and picture sets. 

Measures, Picture Set & Research Team

A major goal of our research has included the development, validation, production and dissemination of qualitative assessment measures to further the advancement of mental health research. We have developed a suite of interviews that employ a consistent approach to the assessment of psychopathology in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. These include the MFQ, PAPA, CAPA and YAPA. 

In addition to these assessments of psychopathology, our team has produced companion measures to assess service use in children, adolescents and young adults. These include the CAIA and CASA.

Please note that, with the exception of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, formal training is required to administer the measures. Visit the pages linked below for more information about each measure, including training (provided by our team):

Assessments of Psychopathology

Service Use Assessments

  • Child and Adolescent Impact Assessment (CAIA) – Begins with a brief summary of the symptoms (“problems”) that a parent has previously described his or her child as having and focuses the rest of the interview on questions about the impact of these symptoms on the family
  • Child and Adolescent Services Assessment (CASA) – Parent and child interviewer-based structured instrument designed to assess the use of mental health services by children ages 8 to 17

The National Institute of Mental Health Child Emotional Faces Picture Set (NIMH-ChEFS), developed by members of our team, is a relatively large stimulus set with high quality, color images of the emotional faces of children. The set includes 482 photographs of fearful, angry, happy, sad and neutral child faces with two gaze conditions: direct and averted gaze. 

Learn more and download the picture sets.

Duke University School of Medicine

Other Institutions & Organizations

Contact Us

Please email Brian Small (brian.small@duke.edu) with any questions.