The personality, psychosomatic symptoms and family characteristics of 55 shunted hydrocephalic children older than four years were studied. Hydrocephalic childrens' self-concept, measured by the Children's Appereception Test, was found to be very significantly poorer than that of the control children. They also frequently showed behaviour disorders of the MBD-type, e.g. concentration difficulties, aggressiveness, fastidious eating and nervousness. The hydrocephalic childrens' families showed very significantly more cohesion and less rigidity, and significantly less authoritarianism than average Finnish families. When examining the parents' attitudes to their sick child, one third of the children were seen to be in a healthy role, with parental expectations realistically related to the child's abilities. One third of the children were seen as "babies", with unnecessarily over-protective attitudes on the part of their parents, and one third as "scapegoats", with accusatory attitudes from their mother and father. Those in the role of "scapegoats" had the poorest perceptual skills, the highest frequencies of behaviour disorders and the poorest self-concept.