The Family Environment in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence as a Predictor of Narcissism in Emerging Adulthood: Findings from a 17-year Longitudinal Study of Mexican-Origin Youth

Abstract

The development of narcissism has been theoretically tied to childhood experiences, yet little empirical research has examined the influence of the family environment on adult narcissism using longterm longitudinal data. The present study identified family factors in late childhood and early adolescence that are prospectively associated with narcissism (grandiosity, superiority, exploitativeness, vulnerability) in emerging adulthood using data from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth (N=674) spanning from age 10 to 26. Using structural equation modeling of multimethod data (child report, parent & spouse report, and coded parent-child interactions), we found that grandiosity and superiority were significantly predicted by positive aspects of the family environment (e.g., parental warmth, parent-child relationship quality, parental relationship quality), whereas exploitativeness and vulnerability were significantly predicted by negative aspects of the family environment (e.g., parental hostility, parent-child conflict). These findings were much weaker, and often non-significant, after controlling for earlier levels of narcissism, suggesting that the family environment exerts its effect on adult narcissism via its concurrent effect on adolescent narcissism. Overall, our study highlights several underexplored family factors in childhood that contribute to the development and maintenance of narcissism in adulthood.