Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Fearlessness as an Underlying Mechanism Leading to Conduct Problems: Testing the INTERFEAR Model in a Community Sample in Spain

Kostas Fanti
* ORCID logo ,
Ioannis Mavrommatis
,
Beatriz Díaz-Vázquez
,
Laura López-Romero
ORCID logo ,
Estrella Romero
ORCID logo ,
María Álvarez-Voces
,
Olivier Colins
,
Henrik Andershed
,
Nicholas Thomson
Version 1 : Received: 17 April 2024 / Approved: 17 April 2024 / Online: 17 April 2024 (13:25:26 CEST)

How to cite: Fanti, K.; Mavrommatis, I.; Díaz-Vázquez, B.; López-Romero, L.; Romero, E.; Álvarez-Voces, M.; Colins, O.; Andershed, H.; Thomson, N. Fearlessness as an Underlying Mechanism Leading to Conduct Problems: Testing the INTERFEAR Model in a Community Sample in Spain. Preprints 2024, 2024041155. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1155.v1 Fanti, K.; Mavrommatis, I.; Díaz-Vázquez, B.; López-Romero, L.; Romero, E.; Álvarez-Voces, M.; Colins, O.; Andershed, H.; Thomson, N. Fearlessness as an Underlying Mechanism Leading to Conduct Problems: Testing the INTERFEAR Model in a Community Sample in Spain. Preprints 2024, 2024041155. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1155.v1

Abstract

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 better understand the developmental pathways of 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 (Fanti et al., 2023), 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 2,467 Spanish children (48.1% girls; Mage = 4.25; SD = 0.91), followed-up across a five-year period. In addition to 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 found and 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 may play a pivotal role in the development of targeted prevention strategies for CP.

Keywords

Fearlessness; Conduct problems; Parenting; Callous-unemotional traits

Subject

Social Sciences, Psychology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.