Díaz Vázquez, BeatrizÁlvarez Voces, MaríaRomero Triñanes, EstrellaLópez-Romero, Laura2026-05-082026-05-082025-04-16Díaz-Vázquez, B., Álvarez-Voces, M., Romero, E., & López-Romero, L. (2025). Heterogeneity of early-onset conduct problems: assessing different profiles, predictors and outcomes across childhood. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/S13034-025-00897-2https://hdl.handle.net/10347/47189Background: Among early-onset conduct problems (CP), associated with more disruptive behaviors of greater intensity and stability, several domains have been proposed from a variable-centered perspective to capture their heterogeneity: oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and callous-unemotional traits (CU). Using a person-centered approach, the present study aims to identify distinct profiles of child CP, examining different predictors and developmental outcomes. Methods: Data included parent- and teacher-reported questionnaires from an ongoing longitudinal study (ELISA). Latent profiles were identified first in a community sample (n = 2,103; age 4–8 years; 50.9% boys) and replicated in a high-CP subsample (n = 168; 70.24% boys). Results: Four profiles emerged in the community sample (Normative Development, Daring/Impulsive, Low prosociality + Fear; Low prosociality + Psychopathic Traits [PP]), and three in the high-CP sample (same except the normative). The identified CP profiles aligned with the ADHD and CU domains, but not the ODD domain. Differences in activity, punitive and inconsistent parenting emerge as the most significant predictors. Regarding the outcomes, the Low prosociality + PP profile stands out as the group with the most severe emotional, social and behavioral maladjustment. Conclusions: These findings highlight the heterogeneity within CP, and the importance of designing specific and tailored interventions for each identified profile.eng© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Attention deficit/hyperactivityCallous-unemotionalChildhoodConduct problemsHeterogeneityOppositionaljournal article2026-05-0410.1186/S13034-025-00897-21753-2000open access1753-2000