High Narcissism and Low Self-Esteem as Risk Factors for the Development of Conduct Problems and Aggression in Children Kristy K. Adler 1, Christopher T. Barry, Ph.D. 1, Paul J. Frick, Ph.D. 2, Sarah J. Grafeman 1 1 The University of Southern Mississippi, 2 The University of New Orleans INTRODUCTION Callous-unemotional traits (e.g., Christian et al., 1997; Frick, Cornell, Barry, Bodin, & Dane, 2003; Pardini, Lochman, & Frick, 2003), and impulsivity (e.g., Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992) have been shown to be positively correlated to behavior problems in children. Narcissism has been the focus of more recent efforts to identify intrapersonal risk factors for conduct problems, and narcissism has been found to be predictive of conduct problems, even when controlling for CU traits (Barry, Frick & Killian, 2003). Previous research on narcissism, in particular, has distinguished forms of maladaptive narcissism from adaptive narcissism (Emmons, 1984; Raskin & Terry, 1988). A similar designation among children demonstrated that maladaptive narcissism (i.e., characteristics of exploitativeness, entitlement, and exhibitionism) was positively related to conduct problems and that this aspect of narcissism was also associated with other risk factors for conduct problems, such as low self-esteem and CU traits (Barry, et al., 2003).This previous research suggests that maladaptive narcissism may be an important predictor of childhood problem behaviors. This study attempted to determine the predictive utility of maladaptive narcissism on later delinquency in children, while also considering other risk factors for problem behaviors (i.e., CU traits and impulsivity). DISCUSSION Results indicate that self-report of maladaptive narcissistic personality traits can predict delinquency up to three years later, including when controlling for other established predictors of such behavior. Results suggest that assessing the presence of maladaptive narcissism (i.e., exploitativeness, entitlement, and exhibitionism) is useful and potentially very important for predicting the stability of delinquency over time. While maladaptive narcissism is positively correlated to CU traits and impulsivity, it appears to be able to uniquely predict later delinquent behaviors. In addition, maladaptive narcissism was more consistently predictive of later delinquency than a baseline self- and parent-report of conduct problem behaviors. These findings also have implications for future intervention and prevention programs targeting delinquent behaviors by specifically focusing on the social behaviors and motives (i.e., exploiting others, “showing off” as an example of exhibitionism) that may lead to or perpetuate adolescent delinquent behaviors. METHOD Ninety-eight children from a community-wide screening of 1,136 children were selected to participate in this study. The participants ranged in age between 9 and 15 years (M=11.9; SD=1.68 years), consisted of 51 males, 47 females, and was 21% African American. A baseline assessment included completion of the self-report Narcissistic Personality Inventory-Children (NPIC; Barry, Frick, & Killian, 2003), parent and teacher report from the Antisocial Processes Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001), and parent and child report of ODD and CD symptoms from the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Version 4 (DISC- IV; Shaffer & Fisher, 1996). Participants were also asked to complete yearly phone follow-ups up to three years later. Children were administered the Self-report of Delinquency (Elliot et al., 1985) at each of those follow-ups. Ninety-three children participated at the one-year follow-up, 87 at the two-year follow-up and 85 children at the three-year follow- up. Poster presented at the 2005 Convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C. For further information, please contact Kristy K. Adler, The University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Psychology, 118 College Drive, #5025, Hattiesburg, MS, 39406; REFERENCES Table 1. Results of multiple regression analyses for predicting delinquency at one-year, two-year and three-year follow-ups. One-Year Follow-Up Two-Year Follow-Up Three-Year Follow-Up Beta Beta Beta Conduct Problems at * Baseline.28**.24*.25* CU Traits Impulsivity R 2 for Model * p <.05, ** p <.01, p <.001 Table 2. Results of multiple regression analyses with narcissism and CU traits as predictors of conduct problems, aggression, and subtypes of aggression Main Effects Model Interaction Model Criterion Variables ΔR 2 ß ß ΔR 2 ß Narc a CU b Narc X CU Conduct Problems-Parent Report c.327***.49***.19*** Conduct Problems-Teacher Report c † * -.19* Aggression-Parent Report c.438***.60***.17** Aggression-Teacher Report c * * -.18* Proactive Aggression-Parent Report d.506***.64***.19**.044***.21*** Proactive Aggression-Teacher Report d.056*.28** * -.20* Reactive Aggression-Parent Report d.415***.62*** Reactive Aggression-Teacher Report d.032†.19* ** -.21** Note. Narc = Narcissism; CU = Callous-Unemotional traits. Scores on Narcissism and Callous- Unemotional traits were centered for these analyses. Gender and race were controlled in these analyses (see Table 1 for effects). a Composite based on the greater of parent or teacher report on the Narcissism scale of the Antisocial Processes Screening Device (APSD); b Composite based on the greater of parent or teacher report on the Callous-Unemotional scale of the Antisocial Processes Screening Device (APSD); c From the Behavior Assessment System for Children (Parent Rating Scale and Teacher Rating Scale; BASC-PRS and BASC-TRS); d From the VIRA-R Measure of Proactive and Reactive Behaviors. † Trend; p <.10; * p <.05; ** p <.01; *** p <.001 RESULTS A parent and child composite of conduct problems was found to be significantly correlated to a parent and teacher composite of callous- unemotional (CU) traits, (r =.31, p.05). In addition, each of the above variables was correlated significantly with self- reported delinquency for at least some of the follow-ups. Specifically, conduct problems at the baseline assessment were significantly correlated with delinquency at each of the follow-ups, r =.35, p <.01, r =.32, p <.01, r =.37, p <.01, respectively. Likewise, maladaptive narcissism was correlated with delinquency one year, r =.38, p <.001, two years, r =.35, p <.01, and three years later, r =.33, p <.01. CU traits and impulsivity were significantly positively correlated with delinquency at the one- and two-year follow-ups but not the three-year follow-up. CU traits, impulsivity, and maladaptive narcissism were entered in multiple regression analyses and were used to predict self-report delinquency at each follow-up, with conduct problems also entered to control for a baseline behavioral indicator. The results of these analyses are shown in Table 1. As shown in Table 1, maladaptive narcissism was a consistent predictor of delinquency at all three follow-ups, whereas only conduct problems predicted delinquency as well, and only at the three-year follow-up.