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The co-occurrence of externalizing and internalizing problems is acknowledged, but gender differences remain unclear. The present study examines gender differences in the longitudinal relationships between conduct and emotional problems throughout childhood. The sample, drawn from the ELISA project, included 2368 children (48.1% girls; ages 3-12). Latent growth curve models were employed to analyze the trajectories of parent-reported conduct problems and emotional symptoms separately, while parallel process latent growth curve models were utilized to compare joint trajectories. The decrease in conduct problems was consistent for girls, but not for boys. High initial emotional symptoms predicted a slower increase in emotional symptoms over time for girls. Parental positivity was a protective factor for conduct problems in girls. Grandiose-deceitful traits were more related to conduct problems in girls, while callous-unemotional traits were related to emotional symptoms in boys. This study highlights the importance of considering gender in childhood conduct and emotional problems., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Conduct problems (CP) in childhood and adolescence have a significant impact on the individual, family, and community. To improve treatment for CP, there is a need to improve the understanding of the developmental pathways leading to CP in boys and girls. Prior research has linked the child's fearlessness and callous-unemotional (CU) traits, as well as experiences of parental warmth and punitive parenting, to CP. However, few studies have tested the interplay of these factors in contributing to future CP development. The present study aimed to test the InterFear model, which suggests that fearlessness in early childhood leads to CP through an indirect pathway involving low positive parenting, high negative/punitive parenting, and callous-unemotional (CU) traits. The sample included 2467 Spanish children (48.1% girls; M age = 4.25; SD = 0.91), followed up across a five-year period. Besides a direct association between fearlessness in early childhood and future CP, the results found an indirect pathway whereby fearlessness reduces positive parenting and increases punitive parenting, which contributes to the development of CU traits and sets the stage for CP in later childhood. The specific indirect effect from fearlessness to CP via CU traits accounted for most of the variance, suggesting the existence of a temperamental pathway independent of parental variables. Further, two additional indirect pathways, exclusive of fearlessness, were identified, which started with low parental warmth and positive parenting, leading to CP via CU traits. These findings support the InterFear model, demonstrating multiple pathways to CP with the involvement of fearlessness, parenting practices, and CU traits. This model might play a pivotal role in the development of targeted prevention and intervention strategies for CP.

Background: Despite the high prevalence of conduct problems in children, and their social and health impact, little is known about gender differences in their characteristics, determinants and implications. This three-year longitudinal study explored the diversity of individual trait configurations in children with conduct problems, assessing whether 1) the same profiles can be identified in boys and girls and, 2) the predictors and outcomes of these profiles are invariant across genders., Method: A multigroup analysis of latent profiles based on temperamental and psychopathic traits was performed on a sample of 401 young children (50.87% girls) with high scores in conduct problems., Results: Both the number of profiles and the means and variances of compositional variables were similar across genders, but the distributions were different. Four profiles were identified, and girls belonged to the least problematic group more frequently. While the predictors were invariant across genders, outcomes were not., Conclusions: This study contributes to the literature on heterogeneity in conduct problems by identifying specific constellations of traits in both boys and girls and shows the importance of considering gender in understanding the progression of conduct problems.