Narcissistic traits and self-esteem in children: Results from a community and a clinical sample of patients with oppositional defiant disorder

JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS

卷:241

Article

Muratori, Pietro¹  Milone, Annarita¹  Brovedani, Paola¹  Levantini, Valentina¹  Melli, Gabriele²  Pisano, Simone³  Valente, Elena¹  Thomaes, Sander⁴  Masi, Gabriele¹ 

[1] IRCCS Stella Maris, Sci Inst Child Neurol & Psychiat, Viale Tirreno 331, I-56018 Pisa, Italy

[2] IPSICO, Inst Behav & Cognit Psychol & Psychotherapy, Florence, Italy

[3] Univ Salerno, Dept Med & Surg, Clin Child & Adolescent Neuropsychiat, Via S Allende, I-84081 Salerno, Italy

[4] Univ Utrecht, Dept Psychol, Utrecht, Netherlands

关键词: Narcissism;    Self-esteem;    Conduct problems;    Oppositional defiant disorder;    Children;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.043

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Background: Several studies have investigated relationships between narcissism, self-esteem and behavioral problems in children. Most of these studies have been conducted in community samples, rather than in clinical referred samples. This field of research is clinically important, because data on community samples suggest that narcissism is a significant risk factor for children's behavioral problems. Methods: The study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Child Narcissism Scale (CNS) in a community sample of Italian children and to explore the clinical utility of CNS in a sample of referred children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Results: In the community sample, the Italian version of the CNS was shown to be a normally distributed, single-factor measure of childhood narcissism with very good internal consistency. Furthermore, high levels of narcissism were associated with less self-esteem in family relationships, more parent-reported conduct problems, and less teacher-reported pro-social behaviors. In the ODD sample, high levels of narcissism were associated with more conduct problems and emotional symptoms. Low levels of self-esteem were associated with more conduct problems. Limitations: The cross sectional design does not allow for estimates of CNS test-retest reliability and sensitivity to change, nor does it allow for interpretations that suggest temporal precedence or causality. Conclusions: We found support for the cross-cultural utility of the CNS as a short and comprehensive self-report measure of narcissistic traits, which can be used in community and clinical samples of children, and suggested how narcissism may be involved in children's behavioral problems.

【 授权许可】

Free