Longitudinal links among parenting, self-presentations to peers, and the development of externalizing and internalizing symptoms in African American siblings

A longitudinal model that linked involved-supportive parenting and siblings' ability-camouflaging self-presentations to peers with the development of externalizing and internalizing symptoms was tested with 152 pairs of first- and second-born African American siblings (mean ages 12.7 years and 10.2 years at the first wave of 44 data collection). Three waves of data were collected at 1-year intervals. Teachers assessed siblings' externalizing symptoms. internalizing symptoms, and academic competence siblings reported their own self-presentations and desire for peer acceptance: and mothers and siblings provided multiinformant assessments of involved-supportive parenting. Involved-supportive parenting at Wave I was linked with peer-directed self-presentations at Wave 2. wave 2 self-presentations were linked indirectly with changes from Wave I to Wave 3 in externalizing and internalizing symptoms through their association with academic competence.