Problems and competencies reported by parents of Australian and American children

We compared problems and competencies reported for 2600 randomly selected nonreferred children in Sydney and the U.S.A. Sydney children scored significantly higher on 82 problem items, with a mean total problem score of 31.6 versus 20.1 for the U.S.A. Nevertheless, item scores correlated 0.92 between countries, most differences between competence scores were small, and patterns were similar for sex, age, socioeconomic status, and internalizing versus externalizing problems. Although higher clinical cutoffs may be needed in Sydney, the similarity of patterns in scores permits calibration of the Child Behavior Checklist between Sydney and the U.S.A. Sex differences found in seven cultures were summarized.