TWO STUDY GROUPS WITH 35 PERSONS IN EACH WERE EMPLOYED: ONE COMPRISING PROVEN CHILD ABUSERS, ALL OF WHICH WERE MOTHERS OF CHILDREN LESS THAN 16 YEARS OF AGE; THE OTHER COMPRISING A MATCHED SAMPLE OF MOTHERS FROM THE GENERAL POPULATION WITH NO RECORD OF CHILD-ABUSING BEHAVIOR. INSTRUMENTS UTILIZED WERE THE ROSENZWEIG PICTURE-FRUSTRATION TEST TO ASSESS TOLERANCE FOR FRUSTRATION, THE PARENTAL ATTITUDES RESEARCH INSTRUMENT TO ASCERTAIN PARENTING STYLE ATTITUDES, AND THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONS QUESTIONNAIRE TO EVALUATE PARENT PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR OWN PARENTS' BEHAVIOR. THE RESULTS GENERALLY SUPPORTED THE SIX HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY: (1) FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE VARIES INVERSELY WITH CHILD-ABUSING BEHAVIOR; (2) OBJECTIVE PARENTING ATTITUDES HAVE A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE; (3) PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE LOVING AND ACCEPTING PARENTAL BEHAVIOR OF THEIR OWN PARENTS ARE POSITIVELY RELATED TO THE DEGREE OF FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE; (4) OBJECTIVE PARENTING ATTITUDES ARE INVERSELY RELATED TO THE INCIDENCE OF CHILD ABUSE; (5) PARENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR PARENTS' WARMTH ARE INVERSELY RELATED TO THE INCIDENCE OF CHILD ABUSE; AND (6) POTENTIAL CHILD ABUSERS MAY BE INDICATED BY MEASURING INDIVIDUALS FOR FRUSTRATION TOLERANCE LEVELS, PARENTING STYLE ATTITUDES, AND PERCEPTIONS (OF PARENTS) OF THEIR PARENTS' BEHAVIOR. SUPPORTING DATA ARE PROVIDED. APPENDIXES CONTAIN CRITERIA FOR CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT, A LIST OF INTAKE INFORMATION QUESTIONS, A LIST OF SYMPTOMS OF NEGLECTED CHILDREN, INFORMATION ON CHARACTERISTIC PATTERNS IN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT, CASE WORKER INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEALING WITH CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT, AND THE STUDY INSTRUMENTS. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT MODIFIED--DEP)