The study examined the influence of culture and gender on psychopathology after controlling for identity-related risk factors. A total of 2113 young adults from 7 countries (France, Germany, Poland, Greece, Turkey, Peru and Pakistan) answered a questionnaire on symptom burden, identity development and family relationships. After controlling for identity-related risk factors (e. g. identity development, maternal upbringing styles), the strong country effect on symptom burden disappeared. While there were practically no gender effects in western countries, in countries such as Peru, Pakistan, Poland and Turkey men reported significantly higher symptom burdens than women. In accordance with DSM-5, a weakening of the cultural effect and a certain universality of mental symptoms was found with a clear interaction between country × and gender. New is the greater vulnerability of men in some countries.