ABSTRACT
Children with learning difficulties, hyperkinetic and impulsive behavior, and/or equivocal neurological signs have frequently been given the diagnosis of minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). This chapter identifies children with these symptoms in a large unselected population, examines associations among the symptoms, and identify socioeconomic, prenatal, genetic, and early developmental factors that are characteristic of affected children. It contains a brief description of the study sample, the method used to identify affected children, the independent variables examined and screening procedures. Project personnel who conducted the early interviews and examinations did not know which children would be identified later as having MBD symptoms, or even that there would be an MBD study. For each MBD factor initial screening techniques included correlations of scores with the 331 antecedent variables and comparisons of values for these variables between affected and normal children. Finally, the chapter also provides an overview of this book.
