This book is the second in a series of monographs documenting the Youth in Transition project. The present volume deals with family background factors and abilities as they relate to a variety of personality characteristics, behaviors, and plans for the future. The population is derived from the initial sample of 2,200 tenth grade boys. The chapters concern the following areas: Chapter One presents an overview of the research design, sample, and procedures; Chapter Two defines eight major family background dimensions; Chapter Three presents the interrelations among them; and Chapter Four relates them to intelligence and other ability dimensions. Chapters Five through Ten present a series of analyses in which the eight family background dimensions plus intelligence are related to a large number of criterion dimensions. Finally, Chapter 11 summarizes the findings by taking each predictor dimension in turn and looking at its effects on the criteria. (Author/EK)