Findings reveal important connections between early maltreatment risk and the emergence of emotional and cognitive regulation and development in multiple domains at age 5 for a sample of at-risk primarily African-American children. Utilization of structural equation modeling (SEM) allowed the relationships among the constructs of interest to be assessed simultaneously and revealed that maltreatment risk impacted children’s regulation which in turn significantly predicted their pre-academic skills and behavioral functioning at age 5. This suggests that self-regulation is an important process in understanding the relationship between maltreatment risk and children’s maladjustment. Mothers who employ abusive and neglectful parenting methods do so at great expense to their children. The present project illustrates that mothers exhibiting greater risk of maltreatment have children who suffer difficulties in self-regulation which fuels dysfunctional development in multiple domains. The data have practical utility in tailoring interventions aimed at ameliorating problematic development among maltreated children through increasing their self-regulation skills. By addressing dysfunctional regulation processes, delays in academic and behavioral development can be minimized in children at risk for maltreatment. Data were collected from 169 adolescent mothers and the subsequent development of their children in pre-academic and behavioral domains at 5 years of age. Tables, figures, and references