EPIDEMIOLOGIC COMPARISONS OF AMERICAN AND DUTCH ADOLESCENTS SELF-REPORTS

Objective: To determine the cross-cultural applicability of self-repor ts of adolescents' problems and competencies. Method: Youth Self-Repor ts (YSRs) were completed by 803 American and 803 Dutch nonreferred ado lescents matched by gender, age, and socioeconomic status Results: Com parisons revealed that American adolescents reported many more problem s than did Dutch adolescents. This finding contrasts sharply with the American/Dutch similarities in parents' and teachers' reports of child ren's problem behaviors. Competence scores also were much higher for t he American than the Dutch sample. Conclusions: Cutpoints for discrimi nating the normal and the clinical range of YSR scores need to be adju sted to local norms for the Dutch sample. Cultural factors may be resp onsible for the cross-national differences.