About the Indicator: Students with three or more internalizing disorders are considered to have a high distress level. Internalizing disorders are measured using the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs--Short Screener (GAIN-SS). New to the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey, students were asked about "significant" problems. Significant means "having problems for two or more weeks, problems that keep coming back, problems that keep you from meeting your responsibilities, or problems that make you feel like you can't go on."

• Significant past 12 month problems with feeling very trapped, lonely, sad, blue, depressed, or hopeless about the future
• Significant past 12 month problems with sleep trouble, such as bad dreams, sleeping restlessly or falling asleep during the day
• Significant past 12 month problems with feeling very anxious, nervous, tense, scared, panicked or like something bad was going to happen
• Significant past 12 month problems with become very distressed and upset when something reminded you of the past
• Significant past 12 month problems with thinking about ending your life or committing suicide

Data Source: Minnesota Student Survey (MSS)

Description: The MSS is a confidential and anonymous self-administered survey given to students attending Minnesota public, charter and tribal schools. From 1995 to 2010, the survey was administered to students in 6th, 9th, and 12th grades. New in 2013, the survey was administered to students in 5th, 8th, 9th, and 11th grades. Trend data are now only available for 9th graders, and only for survey questions that did not change. Most schools elect to participate in the survey; in 2013, this included 84% of public schools in Minnesota.

Although the data are not presented here, the survey is also administered to area learning centers, juvenile correction facilities and private schools electing to participate.

Sponsored by: Minnesota Department of Education

Geographic Level: State, Region, and County

Aggregated data at the state and county level do not reveal disparities that may exist within a given geographic area.

Frequency: Data collected and reported every three years

Characteristics: The results of the MSS are also available at a county level. Data Privacy requirements mandate that data is presented in a manner such that no individual student can be identified through the presentation of the results. As part of the Data Privacy practices, the results are also presented in a manner that no individual school district could be identified through the results. Therefore, for counties that have only one school district, the results are not presented. Results are also withheld for counties in which the minimum number for student participation was not met.

The MSS is a “census” of schools, not a sample. The school districts get their own data. Fifth-graders were not asked all substance use questions. Some school districts do not participate, and student participation within the school district can vary widely. These data are self-reported.