There is a significant disagreement in the literature concerning the validity of psychiatric instruments in different cultures.

The objective of the study was to develop a culturally sensitive psychiatric screening instrument valid for Greeks in Greece and all over the world.

Forward and back translation was used for the greek version of the instrument. The sample was divided into three groups:

i) general population(69,4%);

ii) people in non-psychiatric treatment(12,9%);

iii) people in psychiatric treatment (11,7%).

They were interviewed with the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ), modified to include SRQ-F culturally specific items and physicians also completed an encounter form about the presence of mental health symptoms in participants.

The study sample was composed of 631 Greek speaking adults, 502 females and 129 males, aged 18—67 (M = 30, SD = 11,5). Internal consistency for the overall score was very high (α = ,930). Item total correlations were between, 443 and, 692. Factor analysis revealed four factors accounting for the 54,22 of the total score variance. The factors were anxiety symptoms, depressed mood, somatic symptoms and psychotic symptoms. Content, construct, and criterion validity of each question led to 25 items. Independent t test revealed significant differences between psychiatric patients and control group in the total score (t = -17,795 p = ,0001), psychosis subscale (t = -12,622 p = ,0001) and somatic distress subscale (t = -17,712 p = ,0001).

The Greek SRQ was found to be a valid instrument which can be used in primary care to help general practitioners in the early recognition of mental illness.