Psychopathology in Dutch and American heroin addicts

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Symptom Check List-90 (SCL-90) were administered to 47 Dutch and 121 American White male heroin addicts receiving methadone. A one-way MANOVA indicated that the Dutch and American samples displayed comparable SCL-90 profiles, but that the Dutch had more symptom complaints than the Americans. The mean BDI total score of the Dutch was higher than that of the Americans, and this mean difference reflected more severe cognitive and affective symptoms in the Dutch than in the Americans. There was no difference between the samples with respect to somatic and performance symptoms. Furthermore, the mean levels of symptoms distress for the nine SCL-90 subscales reported by both the Dutch and the American heroin addicts were comparable to those of American psychiatric outpatients.