The social development model (SDM) is a theory that attempts to explain variation in problem behavior among youth. SDM hypothesizes that during the elementary school developmental period children learn patterns of behavior, either prosocial or antisocial. This occurs primarily from socializing units of family and school, with peers and neighborhood influences playing an increasing role as children progress through the elementary school years. This study used data from the Raising Healthy Children (RHC) project to test the reliability and validity of a subsection of the SDM, encompassing prosocial socialization within the family domain. The study panel for RHC consisted of students from 10 public elementary schools in the same suburban Pacific Northwest school district whose parents consented to participate in the fall of 1993. Data reported in this study were from child, parent, and teacher surveys conducted in the spring of 1994, 1995, and 1996. In testing the generalizability of the SDM across groups, specifically, boys and girls and for children from low-income and non low-income families, overall simplicity was found in both measurement and structural models. The configuration of relationships was also consistent across groups for the structural models. For both the comparisons of boys and girls and children from low-income and non low-income families, the loadings on the problem behavior construct differed significantly across groups, indicating that the measurement reliability was lower for girls than boys and for children from non low-income families than from low-income families. The implication for theory is that the basic processes and mechanisms leading to problem behavior are the same for these different groups. The implication for preventive interventions is that efforts to alter variables identified by the DSM as precursors of problem behavior are warranted for girls and boys and for children from low-income and non low-income families. References