This paper reviews how cascading levels of contextual influences, starting with family factors and extending to neighborhood and school factors, can affect children's behavioral and emotional development. The ability of contextual factors to trigger or to attenuate children's underlying temperament and biological risk factors is emphasized.…

The article examines the social/emotional development of children of substance abusers and relates it to their behaviors at school, offering an alternative perspective for understanding their school behaviors and for helping them. Several implications for teacher education are included. (SM)