School Connectedness Buffers the Effects of Negative Family Relations and Poor Effortful Control on Early Adolescent Conduct Problems Alexandra Loukas, Lori A. Roalson, and Denise E. Herrera University of Texas This study examined the unique and interactive contributions of school connectedness, negative family relations, and effortful control to subsequent early adolescent conduct problems. Data were collected from 476 adolescents when they were initially in the 6th and 7th grades and again 1 year later. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that even after controlling for negative family relations, effortful control, baseline levels of conduct problems, and gender, school connectedness contributed to decreasing subsequent conduct problems. Examination of 2- and 3-way interactions indicated that high levels of school connectedness offset the adverse effects of negative family relations for boys and girls and the adverse effects of low levels of effortful control for girls. Findings underscore the role of school connectedness as a protective factor for early adolescent conduct problems. Due in large part to the simultaneous physical, psychological, and social transitions, early adolescence is a developmental period during which vul- nerability for externalizing behavior problems, such as aggression and de- linquency, rises (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Because externalizing behavior problems are highly stable across time and their presence is predictive of later maladjustment (Moffitt, Caspi, Dickson, Silva, & Stanton, 1996), numerous studies have examined the roles of family and individual difference variables in their occurrence. Although early adolescents spend more time at school than in any other context (Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000), relatively few studies have examined whether school contextual factors contribute to be- havioral functioning. Even fewer studies have examined if early adolescent connections to the school moderate or offset the subsequent consequences of poor quality family relationships and negative individual differences. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 20(1), 13–22 r 2010, Copyright the Author(s) Journal Compilation r 2010, Society for Research on Adolescence DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00632.x Requests for reprints should be sent to Alexandra Loukas, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Bellmont Hall 222, Austin, TX 78712. E-mail: alexandra.loukas@mail.utexas.edu