Contextual Amplification of Pubertal Transition Effects on Deviant Peer Affiliation and Externalizing Behavior Among African American Children Xiaojia Ge University of California, Davis Gene H. Brody University of Georgia Rand D. Conger and Ronald L. Simons Iowa State University Velma McBride Murry University of Georgia The effects of the pubertal transition on behavior problems and its interaction with family and neigh- borhood circumstances were examined with a sample of 867 African American children 10 –12 years of age. Pubertal development status, pubertal timing, and primary caregivers’ parenting behaviors were significantly related to affiliation with deviant peers and externalizing behaviors. Externalizing behavior among early-maturing children was associated positively with primary caregivers’ use of harsh– inconsistent discipline and negatively with nurturant–involved parenting practices. Disadvantaged neigh- borhood conditions were significantly associated with deviant peer affiliation. The effect of pubertal transition varied according to family and neighborhood conditions: Early-maturing children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to affiliate with deviant peers. Early- maturing children with harsh and inconsistent parents were significantly more likely to have externalizing problems. The pubertal transition places adolescents at risk for emotional and behavioral problems (Brooks-Gunn, Petersen, & Eichorn, 1985; Graber, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Brooks-Gunn, 1997). Early- maturing adolescents are more likely than their on-time and late- maturing counterparts to become involved in problem behaviors such as minor delinquency, truancy, and misbehavior at school and to affiliate with peers who engage in such behaviors (Caspi, Lynam, Moffitt, & Silva, 1993; Caspi & Moffitt, 1991; Duncan, Ritter, Dornbusch, Gross, & Carlsmith, 1985; Stattin & Magnus- son, 1990). They are more likely to engage in high-risk behavior such as using alcohol or other drugs (Andersson & Magnusson, 1990) and to show signs of emotional distress (Ge, Conger, & Elder, 1996, 2001; Graber et al., 1997). The studies that generated these findings, however, were conducted almost exclusively with White adolescents (for reviews, see Alsaker, 1996; Buchanan, Eccles, & Becker, 1992; Connolly, Paikoff, & Buchanan, 1996). Little systematic information is available about the contributions that the pubertal transition makes to affiliation with deviant peers and the development of externalizing behavior among African American youngsters or about the contextual circumstances that may either exacerbate or ameliorate the risks associated with this transition. The present study was designed to evaluate these asso- ciations with information collected from African American chil- dren, their primary caregivers, and U.S. census sources. Pubertal Transition, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Externalizing Behavior The link between behavior and pubertal transitions among White youngsters has long been a focus of developmental research (Brooks-Gunn et al., 1985; Petersen & Taylor, 1980). Despite the substantial research that has documented a significant relation between the pubertal transition and behavioral problems among adolescents, the mechanisms through which the transition exerts its influence remain to be elucidated. Stattin and Magnusson (1990) offered a plausible explanation derived from a longitudinal study. As an interpretation of the higher prevalence of problem behaviors among girls who mature early, they proposed that the association could result from an effect of pubertal timing on the peer net- work’s composition. They found that early-maturing girls tended to associate with older peers and inferred that the early maturers might engage in lifestyles and activities that were normative for youths of their older peers’ ages but were inappropriate for them. The early maturers’ attempts to match their behavior to that of their older peers may result in an accelerated transition to adultlike behavioral patterns, such as experimentation with alcohol and tobacco. Consistent with this view, Silbereisen, Petersen, Albrecht, Xiaojia Ge, Department of Human and Community Development, Uni- versity of California, Davis; Gene H. Brody and Velma McBride Murry, Department of Child and Family Development, University of Georgia; Rand D. Conger and Ronald L. Simons, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University. This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health through funding for the Center for Family Research in Rural Mental Health (MH48165) at Iowa State University. Additional funding for the research center and for this project was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station (Project 3320). The writing of this article was also supported by the California Agriculture Experiment Station (CA-D*-HCD-6092-H) and by a Faculty Research Grant from the University of California, Davis Academic Senate. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Xiaojia Ge, Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616. E-mail: xjge@ ucdavis.edu Developmental Psychology Copyright 2002 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 2002, Vol. 38, No. 1, 42–54 0012-1649/02/$5.00 DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.38.1.42 42