Literature has been showing the family s strong influence and its interactions over children s development. This study has focused on comprehending the importance of family to children s development, specifically the influence of family climate and family characteristics in occurrence of emotional and behavioral problems in children. To comprehend the relation between family climate and emotional and behavioral problems in children, the Bioecological Approach to Development was used as theoretical apparatus, so as similar researches about the theme. With this purpose, a sample of children from Rio de Janeiro was investigated surrounding the relation between family climate, the family’s sociodemographic characteristics and emotional and behavioral problems during childhood. Within the respondents of the 237 families who participated, 168 were mothers, 39 fathers and 30 caretakers for children, between 7 and 13 years old, registered in elementary schools in Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected through the Family-Climate Inventory, the Child Behavior Checklist and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The family climate had association with the family income, mental health and educational level of parents. Pearson s correlations and multiple linear regressions indicated a negative association between family support and cohesion and children s emotional/behavioral problems. Thus, conflict and family hierarchy were positively association with these problems. The results show the importance of the proximal processes, and especially the family climate, as an important source of protection for children s development.