Common measures in mental health: a joint initiative by funders and journals

A Collaborative Effort to Establish Common Metrics for Use in Mental Health

“…Additional Contributions: We thank the following people for participation in various activities that are mentioned in this Viewpoint: Joshua Gordon, MD, PhD (National Institute of Mental Health), members of the Common Measures Board (CMB), and members of the Common Measures Advisory Board (CMA). A complete list of members of the CMB and CMA as well as the duties of those groups can be found in the study by Farber et al 6 None of them were compensated for their contributions.…”

“…In June 2020, the National Institute of Mental Health and the Wellcome Trust reached a landmark agreement to require the use of a common set of measurement tools in the mental health research that each organization funds (Table ). [6][7][8] Researchers collecting new data are welcome to use whatever measures they want in addition to the common measures, but they must also collect the common measures and report them at the item level. Building on earlier work by the International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders, a wider group of funders and academic journals joined the effort, resulting in the founding of the Common Measures in Mental Health Science (CMMHS) Initiative.…”

“…9 Specific details about the early actions related to the CMMHS Initiative and the governance of that initiative can be found elsewhere. 6 The first year of the CMMHS Initiative consisted of 2 key actions: (1) the introduction by research funders of requirements to collect common measures as part of their funding calls and (2) in-depth consultation with external experts on the strengths and limitations of the newly introduced measurement tools (in particular, in different cultural contexts, where measures require translation and/or sensitive adaptation). Participating funders adopted similar strategies to introduce common measures as part of their funding practices, 6 but the implementation strategies were not identical because the funders have different focus areas and fund research into several different aspects of mental health.…”

“…Abbreviation: IAMHRF, International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders. a Republished with permission from Farber et al Exact text for all questions, details about which instruments are expected for which age group, and information about available translations are available at the NIMH Data Archive …”

“…9 Specific details about the early actions related to the CMMHS Initiative and the governance of that initiative can be found elsewhere. 6 The first year of the CMMHS Initiative consisted of 2 key actions: (1) the introduction by research funders of requirements to collect common measures as part of a Republished with permission from Farber et al 6 Exact text for all questions, details about which instruments are expected for which age group, and information about available translations are available at the NIMH Data Archive. 7 their funding calls and (2) in-depth consultation with external experts on the strengths and limitations of the newly introduced measurement tools (in particular, in different cultural contexts, where measures require translation and/or sensitive adaptation).…”