Studied health-related aspects of the Gulf War on Kuwaiti children. 191 randomly selected Kuwaiti children (aged 8-12 yrs) were assessed with a battery consisting of cognitive, affective, and health-related measures. A significant increase was found in the extent of the health complaints reported by the children from before to after the crisis: 46% of the sample reported more frequent illnesses or somatic symptoms after the crisis than before. The increase in somatic complaints was noted more than 10 mo after the cease-fire even after controlling for prior health problems. These data also show increased cardiovascular reactivity in Ss to an interview about the trauma which cannot be explained by the reactivity associated with speaking.