Building on the ECA: The National Comorbidity Survey and the Children's ECA

Discusses the achievements of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) Study as well as some of its weaknesses including the development of an institutional sample, the collection of data at 5 local sites rather than nationally, and sample size. The author recounts how the ECA experience with these design decisions influenced the design of the National Comorbidity Survey, which was funded to study the prevalence, causes, and consequences of comorbidity between substance use disorders and nonsubstance psychiatric disorders in the US. The application of the lessons of the ECA to the planning of the Children's ECA are discussed including the diagnostic interview, local vs national sampling, the institutional sample, and organizational issues. (July 1994)