A detailed survey of 88 children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) was made in an attempt to elucidate characteristics that may participate in the etiologic mechanism. Data from a random pediatric population from the same geographic area were also included for comparisons. The most striking findings were psychosocial factors. Children whose parents were unmarried as a result of divorce, separation, or death comprised 28.4% of the JRA population, compared to 10.6% of the comparison group. In addition, adoption occurred three times more often in the JRA population. Fifty-one percent of these events (divorce, separation, death, or adoption) occurred near the date of onset of the disease.