A British Questionnaire for Drinking Behaviour (HDBQ) measuring the severity of alcoholism was applied cross-culturally to 96 Arab-Muslim alcoholics while receiving treatment in Kuwait Psychiatric hospital. Though HDBQ proved valid in differentiating Arab alcoholics drinking categories, it gave significantly lower scores for the Arab sample when compared to scores of a British sample. Statistical analysis of the responses of various categories showed that Arab patients tended to respond in absolute negatives significantly more than the British sample did. Cultural factors underlying this tendency were discussed. Suggestions are offered for improvements of this and similar diagnostic instruments to make them more usable transculturally.