Reporting of Student Demographics in School-Based Depression Prevention Trials: The Need for a Core Baseline Set in School Psychology

Educators assess applicability of research to their student populations when selecting evidence-based interventions. Researchers need to report information on student demographics to facilitate this applicability assessment. This study examined which student demographics are reported in school-based depression prevention intervention trials. We identified all measures used to assess student demographics in 71 depression prevention trials. We organized these measures into eight demographic domains from the PROGRESS framework. We found that nearly all trials reported baseline demographic data in at least one domain—though no studies reported baseline data for every domain. In addition, data reported within domains reflected multiple demographics using different measures. Findings raise concerns about the ability of school personnel to comprehensively assess applicability of this evidence to their student populations. A “core baseline set” could establish fieldwide norms on what and how to measure student demographics, making school psychology research more useful to educators by providing comprehensive information for assessing applicability of the evidence.