Background: Although many studies have compared psychopathology in different cultures, not much is known about factors that contribute to the observed differences. Methods: We compared self-reported emotional and behavioural problems in 363 Turkish immigrant and 1098 Dutch adolescents in the Netherlands and we evaluated the contribution of adolescent, parent, family and stress-related factors to the observed ethnic differences. Data were drawn from the Dutch version of the Youth Self-Report (YSR), as well as from Dutch and Turkish parental questionnaires. Results: Turkish girls scored higher on four of the eight YSR syndrome-scales, on the Internalising broadband scale and on total problems than Dutch girls. Turkish boys scored higher on'three syndrome scales and on the Internalising scale, but scored less on Delinquent Behaviour than their Dutch peers. Ethnic differences for both sexes were most pronounced on the Withdrawn and Anxious/Depressed scales. Socio-economic measures, in particular education of the parents, contributed most to the explanation of ethnic differences on the Somatic Complaints scale for girls and Social Problem and Internalising scales for boys. On most scales, however, ethnic differences could not be explained by other factors. The distribution of some factors appeared to be more favourable (i.e., less frequent) for Turkish than for Dutch youths, such as referral of family members to mental health services. Conclusions: Low educational levels of the parents play an important, yet not an exclusive role in explaining cross-cultural differences in emotional and behavioural problems in adolescents. In particular, differences in Withdrawn and Anxious/Depressed behaviour could not be explained by non-cultural factors. This study offers starting-points for future research on cultural-specific predictors of psychopathology in immigrants.

cross-cultural immigrants Behaviour problems risk factors Youth Self-report Adolescence

education rating scale Netherlands youth self report syndrome scale Social Behavior Disorders immigrant delinquent behavior scale somatic complaints scale withdrawn scale boy anxious depressed scale mental health service internalizing scale social problem scale psychological aspect girl human sex difference Self Report controlled study Turkey (republic) comparative study Logistic Models ethnology Cross-Sectional Studies mental disease cross-sectional study family ethnic difference Cross-Cultural Comparison Adolescent parent male Humans female prediction Socioeconomic Factors risk factor Risk Factors Multivariate Analysis socioeconomics stress questionnaire cultural factor emotional disorder Article behavior disorder major clinical study adult gender Sex Factors Turkey Analysis of Variance statistical model sociopathy Child