Citation

Keene AC, Epps J. Child Abuse Negl. 2015; 51: 276-283.

Affiliation

Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, University of South Florida, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.09.012

PMID

26560235

Abstract

This study examined narcissistic vulnerability and shame-proneness as potential mediators between childhood physical abuse (CPA) and adult anger and aggression. Participants were 400 undergraduate students, 134 of whom had a history of CPA. All participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing history of CPA, shame-proneness, narcissistic vulnerability, physical aggression, trait anger, and hostility.

RESULTS indicated abused participants were more angry and aggressive and experienced higher levels of shame-proneness and narcissistic vulnerability than nonabused participants. Multiple mediation analyses showed that narcissistic vulnerability, but not shame-proneness, partially mediated the relation between abuse and physical aggression. However, narcissistic vulnerability and shame-proneness both emerged as partial mediators between abuse and the anger and hostility variables. These findings suggest that narcissistic vulnerability and shame-proneness may function as mediators of adjustment following childhood maltreatment. Study limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Language: en