THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE NEUROLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF EEG DEVIATIONS. EEG'S MEASURE THE BRAIN'S ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY. THE EXPERIMENTAL CHILDREN, 92 OF WHOM WERE MALES, WERE AGED 6 TO 16 YEARS. THE 88 CONTROL CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS ACCORDING TO THE EXTENT TO WHICH PARENTS AND TEACHERS AGREED ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S NORMALITY. ALL OF THE SUBJECTS WERE EVALUATED BY THEIR PARENTS AND TEACHERS ON A 32-ITEM BEHAVIORAL SCALE AND WERE GIVEN NEUROLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND EEG EXAMINATIONS. DISTURBED PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS, AN INDEX COMPRISING SEVERE NEGLECT, MISTREATMENT, OR DEPRIVATION IN FAMILY LIFE, LED THE LIST OF PREDISPOSING FACTORS THAT DIFFERENTIATED PROBLEM-BEHAVIOR CHILDREN FROM CONTROLS. THIS FACTOR WAS FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND FAMILY HISTORY OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE. DISTINCTLY ABNORMAL EEG'S WERE RECORDED FOR 47 PERCENT OF THE PROBLEM-BEHAVIOR CHILDREN, COMPARED TO 9 PERCENT AND 19 PERCENT FOR THE TWO CONTROL GROUPS. MILDLY ABNORMAL (BORDERLINE) EEG'S WERE RECORDED FOR 29 PERCENT OF THE CHILDREN IN EACH GROUP. ONLY 3 PERCENT OF THE CHILDREN WITH BEHAVIOR DISORDERS HAD A HISTORY OF CONVULSIVE DISORDER. FEW DIFFERENCES IN CLINICAL HISTORY OR NEUROLOGICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE DISTINGUISHED CHILDREN WITH NORMAL EEG'S FROM THOSE WITH ABNORMAL EEG'S. HOWEVER, CERTAIN SPECIFIC EEG ABNORMALITIES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT GROUPINGS OF CLINICAL FINDINGS. THE ANALYSIS POINTS UP THE FREQUENT DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN EEG FINDINGS AND OTHER SIGNS OF ORGANIC DISEASE; THE DISSOCIATION BETWEEN EEG ABNORMALITIES AND PREDISPOSITION TO SEIZURES; AND THE LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE ETIOLOGY AND PROGNOSIS OF BEHAVIOR DISORDERS IN CHILDREN. SUPPORTING DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)