Abstracts for the 15th International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ICCAP 2023), Kuching, Sarawak (on Borneo Island), August 7 – 9, 2023

Background: Literature has emphasized the role of biopsychosocial factors in internalizing disorders; however, the role of developmental competencies of a child have not been explored much in this context, and relevant individual and environmental factors need to be explored in a more holistic manner.Aims: The current study aimed to understand the interrelationships and paths among temperament, developmental competencies, parenting practices, psychosocial adversities, and internalizing disorders.Methods: The sample consisted of 200 children and adolescents aged seven to 18 years, with equal number of those with and without an internalizing disorder, and one of their parents.Psychopathology, temperament, interpersonal competence, emotion regulation, executive function, self-concept, adaptive behaviour, parenting practices, life events, family environment and abnormal psychosocial situations were measured using standardized tools.Path analysis was conducted to understand the interrelationships among these variables and paths to internalizing disorder.Results: Direct paths to internalizing disorders were found from rhythmicity, interpersonal competence, self-concept, adaptive behaviour, emotion regulation, corporal punishment, family cohesion and subjective stress related to life events.Sociability, family cohesion, subjective stress from life events and corporal punishment had indirect paths through interpersonal competence.Through self-concept, sociability, rhythmicity, interpersonal competence, adaptive behaviour and average positive parenting had indirect paths to internalizing disorder.Sociability also had an indirect pathway through emotion regulation.Conclusions: The path model highlights the importance of temperament, developmental competencies, parenting practices, and psychosocial adversities in the development of an internalizing disorder.It throws light on the signifi cance of the biopsychosocial approach.