The findings showed that physical abuse predicted subsequent violent delinquency as measured by arrest data. These effects persisted during a 17-year period and extended through late adolescence. Physically abused children were also more likely than nonabused children to exhibit a host of other problematic outcomes, including being less likely to graduate from high school, and being more likely to be fired from their jobs. They were also more likely to become a teen parent. These effects were more pronounced for African-American than for European-American youth and somewhat more prevalent for females than for males. More work is needed in order to understand the mechanisms that underlie the links between early physical abuse and subsequent negative outcomes. Such research is critical to improving preventive interventions that reduce the incidence of abuse and enhance treatment programs for children. The families in this study were participants in the ongoing, multisite, longitudinal study called the Child Development Project. Participants were recruited when they entered kindergarten in 1987 or 1988 at three sites: Knoxville and Nashville, TN, and Bloomington, IN. Study procedures and measures pertained to early physical abuse; violent delinquency, nonviolent delinquency, and aggression; other social and psychological problems; and covariates. The latter controlled for factors related to sociodemographics, family functioning, and child behaviors shown to be related both to the likelihood that a child would be maltreated and to long-term adjustment. 3 tables and 69 references