All children were clients of a child guidance clinic. For the abused children, descriptive information also was collected on the severity, duration, and recency of the physical abuse. The data indicate that both the abused and the troubled children had more behavior problems and were less socially competent than were their control group peers. Of 13 behavior clusters analyzed, the 3 groups differed from each other significantly only on aggressiveness. Overall, results suggest that the troubled children may have more severe behavior problems than controls or abused children. Results are discussed in terms of their application to the study of and treatment of abuse trauma syndrome. 17 references. (Author abstract modified)