The relationship between otitis media during the first 3 years of life and subsequent speech development was examined in 55 socioeconomically disadvantaged children who attended a research day-care program. The children were participants in a longitudinal study of child development in which the number of episodes of otitis media and the duration of each otitis episode were reported prospectively from infancy. Standardized tests of speech were administered between the ages of 2 ½ and 8 years. No significant relationship was found between otitis media in early childhood and number of common phonological processes or consonants in error used during the preschool years. However, the number of days of otitis media before age 3 was associated with the total number of phonological processes used by children between the ages of 4 ½ and 8 years. Although these findings suggest that phonological processes after age 4 ½ tend to drop out more slowly for children with a history of otitis media than for children Without histories, no consistent patterns were observed for individual phonological processes or for the total number of consonants in error in this age range.

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The relationships between attention deficits, hyperactivity, neurodevelopmental performance, and problematic peer relationships were examined in 99 consecutive children (ages 9 to 11 years) referred for school problems to a clinic. Using a teachers' rating scale, 32 children with cognitive inattention and a comparison group of 67 children without cognitive inattention were identified. The former group comprised children who met criteria for Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The latter group comprised children with learning disorders and school problems, 42 of whom did not meet criteria for ADHD. Analysis indicated that the study group had greater peer problems, as estimated by teachers' ratings, than the comparison group. Cognitive inattention was related to peer problems over and above the effects of hyperactivity. Neurodevelopmental predictors of peer problems were different among children with ADHD and those without ADHD. Among children with ADHD, proficiency in tasks of verbal fluency was significantly predictive of peer problems. These preliminary findings suggest that children showing teacher-rated cognitive inattention also manifest significant peer problems and that the presence of strong verbal fluency may make these children prone to inappropriate excessive talking and, subsequently, to alienation of peers.