This investigation identifies unique risk and protective factors for internalizing and externalizing problems among 8- to 12-year-old, low-income, African American children and tests cumulative risk and protective models. A total of 152 mother—child dyads complete questionnaires. Receipt of food stamps, mother’s distress, and child maltreatment increase children’s risk for internalizing and externalizing problems and family functioning (adaptability, cohesion), and after-school program participation (externalizing only) are protective against internalizing and externalizing problems. A cumulative risk model reveals that compared with youth with no risk factors, having one risk factor confers three- and fivefold risk for internalizing and externalizing symptoms, respectively. Having two or three risk factors confers 12 and 19 times greater risk for internalizing and externalizing symptoms, respectively. Compared with no protective factors, youth with two protective factors are 4 and 6 times less likely to display internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. Implications for community-based preventive intervention efforts and future research are discussed.
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