THE BASIC PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ATTEMPT TO FIND OUT WHETHER ANXIETY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WAS TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE THE RESULT OF SCHOOL EXPERIENCES AND CONDITIONS. THE ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF SCHOOL ANXIETY WERE ALSO TO BE ANALYZED. THE METHOD OF STUDY INVOLVED OBTAINING MEASURES OF SCHOOL ANXIETY AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR OVER A PERIOD OF 2 OR MORE SCHOOL YEARS, AND COMPARING THE TREND WHICH IS FOUND DURING THE TIME CHILDREN ARE UNDER THE COMBINED INFLUENCE OF IN-SCHOOL AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT (AND MATURATION) WITH THE TREND DURING THE TIME THEY ARE UNDER ONLY THE DIRECT INFLUENCE OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT (AND WERE SELECTED AS SUBJECTS. DATA WERE OBTAINED ON THE SUBJECTS FROM CUMULATIVE RECORDS, THE CHILDREN, AND THEIR TEACHERS. THE METROPOLITAN ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF MENTAL MATURITY, AND THE CHILDREN'S SCHOOL QUESTIONNAIRE WERE ADMINISTERED TO THE SUBJECTS. TEACHER NOMINATIONS OF CHILDREN WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS WERE A MAJOR SOURCE FOR THE DATA GATHERED. FINDINGS WERE COMPLEX AND REQUIRE STUDY IN CONTEXT. AT THE METHODOLOGICAL LEVEL, HOWEVER, THE USEFULNESS OF THE IN-SCHOOL AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL PARADIGM WAS DEMONSTRATED. (ED)