Identifying psychological distress data available in nationally representative surveys: A scoping review and case study of Australian surveys.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Mental health data are crucial for understanding trends in psychological distress. This scoping review aimed to identify and describe surveys of representative samples of the Australian household population that measured psychological distress, and to provide a case study illustrating how datasets can be systematically summarized to assist researchers to more easily identify available datasets.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed and data archives for surveys state or nationally representative of the Australian household population that assessed psychological distress.

Results

We provide a searchable metadata database characterizing 283 identified datasets from 41 studies (25 cross-sectional, 16 longitudinal) conducted between 1989 and 2023. Thirty-nine

SUBMITTER: Varley D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12855228 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature