This longitudinal study examined the relation between family instability and the problem behaviors of children from economically disadvantaged families. Family instability was assessed when the children were ages 5 and 7 and included number of residence changes, changes of intimate caregiver relationships, and recent negative life events. The results showed direct concurrent relations between family instability and preschool children's externalizing behavior in the context of other family process variables, relations between subsequent family instability and lst-grade children's internalizing behavior (i.e., with preschool behavior ratings controlled), and an effect for persistent instability across grade. Moderator effects were also found for child variables, including gender, temperamental adaptability, and prior externalizing Children raised in economically disadvantaged families are at risk for a variety of academic and social problems. As shown by a

This study explored the relations between additive and cumulative representations of contextual risk, caregiver emotionality, child adaptability, and teacher reports of the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children (N = 155) from economically disadvantaged families. The results showed relations between both risk representations and child problem scores and provided evidence that the relation for cumulative risk may be moderated by caregiver negative emotionality and caregiver positive emotionality and partially mediated by child adaptability. The results suggest the importance of exploring alternative representations of contextual risk and the conditions under which contextual risk influences child behavior.

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