A study at South Carolina State College examined the psychosocial effects of relaxation training on student dropout, disruptive behavior,and absenteeism of rural preadolescents between 10 and 14 years of age. Phase 1 of the study was composed of 62 preadolescents selected randomly from 167 middle school students with no previous instruction in French, who volunteered to participate in an 8-week summer program consisting of a set of 3 learning experiences. Phase 2 of the investigation was composed of 532 students (260 girls and 272 boys; 273 black and 259 white) 7th grade students in 10 public and private middle schools in a 4-county area in the midlands of South Carolina. Of the 62 students in Phase 1, 14 dropped out of the project (3 from the experimental group and 11 from the control group), supporting a hypothesis at the .05 level that students who receive relaxation training drop out at a lower rate. Additionally, the experimental group was more manageable, less overly competitive, and less likely to exhibit disruptive behavior. Although more persistent absenteeism was observed in the experimental group (contrary to expectations) the chi-square test showed that this difference was not significant. Data supported the hypothesis that there are more reported discipline problems in the control group than the experimental group receiving relaxation training. (AH)