On 17 June, María Álvarez Voces publicly presented and defended her international doctoral thesis, entitled “Gender differences in conduct problems in childhood and adolescence: Manifestations, profiles, and trajectories”. The thesis was supervised by Professor Estrella Romero and Professor Xosé Antón Gómez Fraguela.
The thesis adopted a gender sensitive perspective to analyze not only differences in the severity and prevalence of conduct problems, but also potential variations between boys and girls in their manifestations, associated profiles, and developmental trajectories. The work is based on the premise that research in this area has traditionally focused on boys, partly because they show a higher prevalence in these problems. As a result, less is known about how conduct problems manifest and develop in girls. The thesis also considers the so-called gender paradox, which suggests that, when a problem is less common in one gender, those affected may show a poorer prognosis and greater overall impairment.
In this context, the thesis aimed to examine gender differences in conduct problems during childhood and adolescence from a longitudinal perspective. To this end, eight empirical studies were conducted using data from two projects developed in Spain, ELISA and VRAI, as well as from a project developed in the United States, the ABCD Study®, and its ABCD-SD substudy.
The findings contribute to advancing the understanding of gender differences in conduct problems, providing evidence on their expression, heterogeneity, and development over time. Overall, the thesis highlights the importance of continuing research in this area to improve detection, prevention, and intervention in both boys and girls, while incorporating a gender sensitive perspective.
