PRETESTED QUESTIONNAIRES, INCLUDING A SPANISH VERSION, WERE SENT TO 1,500 PERSONS IN 1978. A TOTAL OF 682 INDIVIDUALS, REPRESENTING 138 COUNTIES, RETURNED COMPLETED, USABLE QUESTIONNAIRES, 8 OF WHICH WERE IN SPANISH. MOST OF THE RESPONDENTS WHO COMPLAINED OF HAVING BEEN ABUSED BY THEIR SPOUSES WERE WHITE FEMALES (56 PERCENT), HAD CHILDREN (73 PERCENT), AND HAD ATTENDED COLLEGE. MOREOVER, THEIR MEDIAN AGE WAS 36.4 YEARS, WITH A RANGE OF 17 TO 92 YEARS OF AGE, AND THE MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME FELL BETWEEN $15,001 AND $25,000. FINDINGS LEND THEMSELVES TO THE FOLLOWING GENERALIZATIONS: NO LESS THAN 11.2 PERCENT OF TEXAS WOMEN HAVE BEEN ABUSE VICTIMS; NO LESS THAN 2.2 PERCENT OF TEXAS MEN HAVE BEEN ABUSED BY THEIR SPOUSES; NO LESS THAN 87,000 ADULTS ARE SUBJECT TO SPOUSE ABUSE ON AT LEAST A WEEKLY BASIS; APPROXIMATELY THE SAME PROPORTION OF WHITES, BLACKS, AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS REPORTS INCIDENCES OF ABUSE; REPORTED CASES OF ABUSE ARE DISTRIBUTED ACROSS ALL INCOME LEVELS; AND ALCOHOL IS A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN OVER ONE-THIRD OF THE CASES. ABOUT 47 PERCENT OF THE VICTIMS OF ABUSE EXPERIENCED SEVERE PHYSICAL ABUSE, OVER 15 PERCENT HAVE CLOSE FRIENDS WHO HAVE BEEN ABUSED, AND 7 PERCENT KNOW NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE BEEN ABUSED. MOREOVER, OVER 80 PERCENT OF SPOUSE ABUSE CASES IN TEXAS ARE UNREPORTED BECAUSE OF FEAR OF REPRISAL, AND MOST CASES OF ABUSE ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR. ALSO 13 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS REPORT THAT THEIR MOTHERS HAD BEEN ABUSED BY THEIR FATHERS AND 3.7 PERCENT HAVE SONS OR DAUGHTERS WHO HAVE BEEN ABUSED BY SPOUSES. OVERALL, THE RESULTS ESTABLISH A FIRM BASE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. FOOTNOTES, GRAPHS, TABULAR DATA, AND MAPS ARE PROVIDED. (WJR)