Fanti Kostas A, Mavrommatis Ioannis, Díaz-Vázquez Beatriz, López-Romero Laura, Romero Estrella, Álvarez-Voces María, Colins Olivier F, Andershed Henrik, Thomson Nicholas
Department of Psychology, Faculty od Social Sciences and Education, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus.
Instituto de Psicoloxía (IPsiUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Children (Basel). 2024 May 3;11(5):546. doi: 10.3390/children11050546.
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; age = 4.25; = 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.
儿童期和青少年期的行为问题（CP）对个人、家庭和社区都有重大影响。为了改善对CP的治疗，有必要加深对导致男孩和女孩出现CP的发育途径的理解。先前的研究已将儿童的无畏和冷酷无情（CU）特质，以及父母温暖和惩罚性养育的经历与CP联系起来。然而，很少有研究测试这些因素在促成未来CP发展中的相互作用。本研究旨在检验InterFear模型，该模型表明幼儿期的无畏通过一条间接途径导致CP，这条途径涉及低积极养育、高消极/惩罚性养育和冷酷无情（CU）特质。样本包括2467名西班牙儿童（48.1%为女孩；年龄 = 4.25岁；标准差 = 0.91），随访期为五年。除了幼儿期的无畏与未来CP之间的直接关联外，研究结果还发现了一条间接途径，即无畏会减少积极养育并增加惩罚性养育，这有助于CU特质的发展，并为儿童后期出现CP奠定基础。从无畏经由CU特质到CP的特定间接效应占了大部分变异，这表明存在一条独立于父母变量的气质途径。此外，还确定了另外两条不涉及无畏的间接途径，它们始于低父母温暖和积极养育，经由CU特质导致CP。这些发现支持了InterFear模型，证明了在无畏、养育方式和CU特质的参与下，CP有多种发展途径。该模型可能在CP的针对性预防和干预策略的制定中发挥关键作用。
