Competence, emotional and behavioural problems were examined in 256 school-children, aged 13-17 years, in Novosibirsk, Russia, using the Youth Self-Report (YSR), the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher's Report Form (TRF). The internal consistency of syndrome scales for all three instruments was generally adequate. Interrater agreements for the problem scales were higher for girls than for boys in all combinations of informants. These findings are discussed in terms of gender role development. Gender effects on the scales' scores were more numerous and stronger than age. No SES differences were found. Russian children reported more problems than children of other nationalities did. Compared with American children, Russians were lower on competencies and higher on Somatic complaints and self-reported behavioural problems. On competence scales, Russian children in an unselected sample scored themselves lower than American children in a clinical sample. It is supposed that low self-esteem may be the first effect of the unfavourable development in Russian adolescents.