title: A short screening instrument for mental health problems: the symptom checklist-27 (SCL-27) in Poland and Germany.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The symptom checklist SCL-27 is a short, multidimensional screening instrument for mental health problems. It contains six scales: depressive, dysthymic, vegetative, agoraphobic and sociophobic symptoms; symptoms of mistrust; and a global severity index (GSI-27).
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey of two student samples from Poland and Germany (n ∼ 400) is presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most scales of the SCL-27 showed good to satisfactory reliability (i.e. Cronbach's α > 0.70). Some items displayed different characteristics in students than in non-student samples. These discrepancies can be explained partly by the particular situation students face and partly by some country-specific or language-specific aspects of the measuring instrument. Differences between Polish and German students were marginal at best; in general, the Polish students tended to assent more easily to the items of the SCL-27 than did the German students.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SCL-27 is suitable for international comparisons. In both, Germany and Poland, students display a characteristic response pattern that differs from those of other samples. It can be applied as a separate instrument or for reanalysis of data collected with the SCL-90_R.
authors: Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Mainz, Germany. hardt@uni-mainz.de
authors: Jochen
authors: J
authors: Hardt
authors: Malgorzata
authors: M
authors: Dragan
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Kappis
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D003625:Data Collection; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011044:Poland; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult