Conferences

To encourage accurate responses, many surveys that address sensitive topics require that the interview take place in a private setting so that the interviewer is the only individual to hear the respondent’s answers. Maintaining such privacy is always a challenge but becomes more so in a cross-national study where there are wide cultural variations in the norms and patterns of social relations and economic and social development that could influence the ability to maintain interview privacy. This presentation focuses on the investigation of interview privacy measures across different cultures in a cross-national survey, the World Mental Health Survey Initiative (WMH). The WMH has conducted nationally or regionally representative surveys in 30 countries around the globe. These surveys are designed to measure the prevalence and correlates of mental health disorders as well as impairment and patterns of help-seeking. Using the WMH data, variations in interview privacy across different cultures are explored. These include measures of who was present during the interview and the duration of this presence. In addition demographic and socioeconomic determinants (including gender of respondent, age, marital status, income, and employment status) are explored. The impact of interview privacy on reporting mental health conditions (such as suicidality, and substance abuse and dependence) as well as other possible sensitive information are then investigated and compared. The presentation ends with practical strategies for addressing interview privacy across cultures.