Longitudinal links between contextual risks, parenting processes, youth self-regulation, academic achievement, and conduct problems were explored in young adolescents. Data were gathered across 4years from 139 rural, African American, single mother-headed families with young adolescents (mean age =11 years at recruitment). Structural equation modeling indicated that accumulated risks were associated with lower levels of the competence-promoting parenting practices that were linked indirectly with youth outcomes via youth self-regulation. A combination of parent and youth variables appears to foster a link that encourages academic achievement and discourages conduct problems during early adolescence. Parental involvement, support, and vigilance and youths' development of self-regulation appear to enhance development among rural African American youths growing up in challenging circumstances. When Wave 1 academic achievement and conduct problems were controlled, all paths in the model remained significant thereby indicating that the hypothesized path-ways accounted for change in the outcome variables across 3 years.
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