AbstractThe Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation—Outcome Measure (CORE‐OM) was translated into Italian and tested in non‐clinical (n = 263) and clinical (n = 647) samples. The translation showed good acceptability, internal consistency and convergent validity in both samples. There were large and statistically significant differences between clinical and non‐clinical datasets on all scores. The reliable change criteria were similar to those for the UK referential data. Some of the clinically significant change criteria, particularly for the men, were moderately different from the UK cutting points. The Italian version of the CORE‐OM showed respectable psychometric parameters. However, it seemed plausible that non‐clinical and clinical distributions of self‐report scores on psychopathology and functioning measures may differ by language and culture. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Key Practitioner Message:• A good quality Italian translation of the CORE‐OM, and hence the GP‐CORE, CORE‐10 and CORE‐5 measures also, is now available for use by practitioners and anyone surveying or exploring general psychological state. The measures can be obtained from CORE‐IMS or yourself and practitioners are encouraged to share anonymised data so that goodclinical and non‐clinical referential databases can be established for Italy.