A 4-YEAR FOLLOWUP STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY EARLY SIGNS OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES IN CHILDREN AND TO DESCRIBE THOSE THAT PERSIST LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS. FINDINGS CONCERNING CHILDREN WHO IN 1961 WERE IN THE SECOND AND FOURTH GRADES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK (EXCEPT IN SYRACUSE) SUGGEST THAT THE MAJORITY OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES AMONG YOUNG SCHOOL CHILDREN DO NOT PERSIST MORE THAN 2 YEARS. THE 6,788 FOURTH AND SIXTH GRADE CHILDREN WHO ADVANCED TWO GRADES BETWEEN 1961 AND 1963 REPRESENT 81.9 PERCENT OF THOSE SURVEYED IN 1961. IN 1961, 515 CHILDREN WERE DESIGNATED BY THEIR CLASSROOM TEACHERS AS EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED, AND 160 OF THESE WERE DESCRIBED IN THE SAME WAY IN 1963. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT VARIATION BY GRADE OR SEX. ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THESE CHILDREN WERE ALSO DESIGNATED AS PROBLEMS IN THE CLASSROOM. STATISTICAL ANALYSES SUGGEST A CLUSTERING IN URBAN AREAS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS RANKING HIGH IN THE PROPORTION OF CHILDREN REPORTED EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED. A SECOND FOLLOWUP STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED IN 1965. CHARACTERISTICS OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR AND EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED BEHAVIOR ARE DESCRIBED AS WELL AS EARLY INDICATORS OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE. FIVE TABLES AND A MAP ACCOMPANY THE TEXT OF THE STUDY. (TE)