EMPIRICAL RESEARCH Interpersonal Relationships and the Development of Behavior Problems in Adolescents in Urban Schools: A Longitudinal Study Marjorie Montague Æ Wendy Cavendish Æ Craig Enders Æ Samantha Dietz Received: 1 June 2009 / Accepted: 27 July 2009 / Published online: 6 August 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the trajectories of behavioral problems for a sample of pre- dominately minority adolescents (n = 212, 91% African- American and/or Hispanic, 45% boys, 55% girls) in a large, urban school district and to determine the impact of parental and peer relationships, gender, and risk status on their development during middle and high school. Multi-level growth modeling was the primary statistical procedure used to track internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems across time. Results indicated that behavioral problems as rated by students’ teachers declined significantly for both boys and girls, a finding that is in direct contrast to previous studies of adolescent behavior. The quality of parental relationships was a strong predictor of both types of behavior whereas the quality of peer relationships predicted only internalizing behavioral symptoms. These findings suggest that behavioral trajectories may be somewhat unique for this population underscoring the need for addi- tional research in this area. The findings also have impli- cations for intervening with children and youth who display behavioral problems during critical developmental periods. Keywords Parent relationships  Peer relationships  Behavioral problems Introduction This study investigated the development of behavior problems for a sample of predominately minority youth in a large, urban school district in the southeastern United States (i.e., 35% African-American, 46% Hispanic, 10% Hispanic/African-American, 10% White non-Hispanic). A primary focus of the study was to determine the impact of parent and peer relationships, gender, and risk status (i.e., not at risk and at risk for developing emotional and behavioral disorders) on the trajectories of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems for these adoles- cents during middle and high school. Behavior problems are typically operationalized as either internalizing or externalizing problems. Internalizing behavior problems are associated with emotional reticence, extreme shyness, withdrawal, depression, and anxiety. Externalizing prob- lems are characterized by behaviors such as opposition and defiance, stealing, destroying property, lying, aggression, and delinquency. There is a considerable body of research that addresses the nature of these behaviors, their devel- opment in children and adolescents, and the factors that influence their development. However, research addressing behavioral problems of minority populations is relatively sparse. The research that has focused on minority youth suggests higher levels of externalizing behaviors among African- Americans and Hispanics compared with white youth. Disproportionate numbers of school disciplinary actions and juvenile justice contacts have been reported for minority students in several studies (e.g., Kempf-Leonard 2007; Richart et al. 2003). National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (i.e., CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System) have shown consistently higher rates of externalizing risk behaviors (e.g., carrying a M. Montague (&)  W. Cavendish  S. Dietz University of Miami, P.O. Box 248065, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA e-mail: mmontague@aol.com C. Enders Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA 123 J Youth Adolescence (2010) 39:646–657 DOI 10.1007/s10964-009-9440-x