We evaluated the screening properties of the Children's Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) and the Reporting Questionnaire for Children (RQC) in an urban primary care setting in Nigeria. Using various validity indices and the results of Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis, we showed that the two instruments had identical abilities at differentiating children with specific psychiatric disorders from those without. The cut-off threshold for the CBQ in this setting was different from what is commonly reported elsewhere. While the CBQ was able to differentiate between conduct and emotional disorders, the RQC had the advantage of relative brevity.