TO CONSTRUCT A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY, A 10-YEAR STUDY WAS MADE FROM INTERVIEWS AND RECORD INFORMATION. THE STUDY OF THE ADULT STATUS OF FORMER PATIENTS OF A NOW DEFUNCT ST. LOUIS CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC LOCATED 90 PERCENT OF 524 PATIENTS 30 YEARS AFTER CLINIC REFERRAL AND OBTAINED ADULT RECORDS FOR 98 PERCENT OF THOSE LOCATED. THE SUBJECTS WERE PREDOMINATELY MALE AND AMERICAN BORN OF WHITE PROTESTANT FAMILIES OF LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. THEIR FAMILIES HAD A HIGH DEGREE OF DISRUPTION (ONLY ONE-THIRD OF THE CHILDREN WERE LIVING WITH BOTH PARENTS), AND 45 PERCENT OF THE CHILDREN HAD BEEN REFERRED BY THE JUVENILE COURT. A MATCHED GROUP OF 100 CHILDREN NOT REFERRED TO THE CLINIC WAS CHOSEN FROM PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ROLLS. THE STUDY DEMONSTRATED THAT THE CLINIC SUBJECTS WERE MORE MALADJUSTED AND EMOTIONALLY ILL AS ADULTS THAN WERE THE CONTROL SUBJECTS. ONLY 4 PERCENT OF THE CONTROL SUBJECTS HAD FIVE OR MORE ADULT ANTISOCIAL SYMPTOMS, COMPARED WITH 45 PERCENT OF THE PATIENT GROUP. OF THE CONTROL GROUP, 52 PERCENT WERE THOUGHT TO BE FREE OF PSYCHIATRIC DISEASE THROUGHOUT THEIR ADULT LIVES, AS COMPARED WITH ONLY 20 PERCENT OF THE PATIENTS. THE WAYS IN WHICH ADULT MALADJUSTMENT OF THE PATIENTS SHOWED ITSELF ARE DESCRIBED. FACTORS WHICH IDENTIFIED CHILDREN LIKELY TO HAVE SERIOUS DIFFICULTIES AS ADULTS ARE SPECIFIED. INCLUDED IN THE STUDY ARE CONSIDERATIONS OF FAMILY SETTING, SOCIAL STATUS IN CHILDHOOD, AND THE RELATION OF DIAGNOSIS OF THE RESPONSE TO THE CHILD'S BEHAVIOR BY THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM, CLINIC, AND SCHOOL. REMISSION AND IMPROVEMENT, THE NATURAL HISTORIES OF OTHER PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSES, AND THE VALIDITY OF THE STRUCTURED INTERVIEW ARE ALSO DISCUSSED. REFERENCES INCLUDE THE 17 EARLIER PUBLICATIONS FROM THE STUDY AND 129 RELEVANT WORKS BY OTHERS. APPENDIXES TREAT (1) THE METHODS OF EVALUATING THE EFFECT OF CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENT ON DIAGNOSIS, (2) THE OUTLINE FOR SOCIAL HISTORY ANAMNESIS USED BY THE MUNICIPAL PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC, (3) THE FORM FOR THE FOLLOWUP INTERVIEW, AND (4) THE CRITERIA FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY. STATISTICAL TABLES APPEAR THROUGHOUT. THIS DOCUMENT WAS PUBLISHED BY WILLIAMS/WILKINS COMPANY, 428 EAST PRESTON STREET, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21202, FOR $8.50. (DF)