The objectives of study were: (1) To study the needs of children at various levels of ability. (2) To study the problems of children at various levels of ability. (3) To study the self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (4) To study the academic achievement of children at various levels of ability. (5) To study the impact of needs on perceived self-concept of children. (6) To study the impact of needs on ideal self-concept of children. (7) To study the impact of needs on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children. (8) To study the impact of needs on academic achievement of children. (9) To study the impact of needs on perceived self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (10) To study the impact of needs on ideal self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (11) To study the impact of needs on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children at various level of ability. (12) To study the impact of needs on academic achievement of children at various levels of ability. (13) To study the impact of problems on perceived self-concept of children. (14) To study the impact of ideal on self-concept of children. (15) To study the impact of problems on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children. (16) To study the impact of problems on academic achievement of children. (17) To study the impact of problems on perceived self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (18) To study the impact of problems on ideal self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (19) To study the impact of problems on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children at various levels of ability. (20) To study the impact of problems on academic achievement of children at various levels of ability. 

The sample comprised of 200 students from each East, West, South, North and Central zones of Mumbai summing to 1000 students of class IX from different schools of Mumbai. For this multistage sampling technique has been used with stratified random sampling and random sampling being used at different stages.

The tools used in the study were: Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) to measure needs, Deo’s Personality Word List (PWL), Nafde’s Non- Verbal Test of Intelligence (NVTI), Students’ Check List (SCL) prepared by the researcher (Test-retest reliability coefficient=0.90), and School Records / Register for obtaining grades/mark for academic achievement. 

The statistical techniques used for data analysis were mean, standard deviation, graphical methods, ANOVA, t-test, Multiple Regression Analysis, Gamma Test and Chi-square test. 

 The findings of study were: (1) Needs of children did not vary with levels of ability. (2) The problems of children at various levels of ability did not differ. (3) The self-concept of children did not differ with levels of ability. (4) There was 55% of association between academic achievement and various ability levels of children. (5) There was no significant impact of needs on perceived self-concept of children. (6) There was no significant impact of needs on ideal self-concept of children. (7) There was no significant impact of needs on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children. (8) Out of 15 needs, 7 needs of children did not affect academic achievement of children. (9) There was no significant impact of needs on perceived self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (10) All 15 needs had significant impact on self-concept of students. (11) There was significant impact of needs on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children at various level of ability. (12) Out of 15 needs, 6 needs of children did not affect academic achievement of children but nine needs did affect the academic achievement of children. (13) There was significant impact of problems on perceived self-concept of children. (14) There was significant impact of ideal on self-concept of children. (15) There was significant impact of problems on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children. (16) There was significant impact of problems on academic achievement of children. (17) There was significant impact of problems on perceived self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (18) All problems, viz., total, home, school, social, emotional and physical had significant impact on ideal self-concept of children at various levels of ability. (19) There was significant impact of problems on discrepancy between perceived and ideal self of children at various levels of ability. (20) None of the problems had significant affect on academic achievement of children at low ability levels. At average ability levels, home, social and emotional problems did not have significant impact on academic achievement of children. At high ability levels, social, emotional and physical problems did not have significant influence on academic achievement of children.