Study I was designed to assess the degree of abuse experienced by a sample of adult males with a childhood history of ADHD as well as their non-ADHD siblings. Study II was designed to compare the familial upbringing of adults with a history of ADHD, brothers of ADHD subjects, and a group of age-matched former classmates. The third study examined, in an ADHD sample, the relationship between severity of childhood hyperactive and aggressive symptomatology and the degree of reported abuse. Probands and brothers did not differ in their reporting of physical punishment, discipline, parental rejection, or positive parental contact, nor did they differ in their perception of the general atmosphere of their home environments. These findings were generally replicated in a larger sample of ADHD probands, non-ADHD brothers, and a group of classmate controls. In addition, the relation between severity of hyperactive and aggressive symptoms and degree of abuse was examined within an ADHD sample. Neither the degree of hyperactive symptoms, the degree of aggressive symptoms, nor the interaction of the two were associated with the amount of physical punishment reported. These data challenge the "scapegoat" or "target child" hypothesis prevalent in the child abuse literature by suggesting that punitive parenting may not be significantly controlled by the behavioral characteristics of ADHD children. 3 tables and 38 references