The impact and the consequences of a narcissist parent on the child’s development and mental health

Abstract

Parents have a great influence on their children. They not only pass on genetic traits but help shape the way their children perceive and navigate the world from early childhood to adulthood. Because no parent is perfect, all children grow up with parents who make mistakes—and some of those mistakes have a lasting impact. Children of narcissistic parents, however, grow up with parents whose personality traits can leave mental and emotional scars that negatively affect their children. Narcissistic parenting, more than a clinical diagnosis, is considered a descriptive form of parenting style, leaving room for discussion and different subjective views. Very few research directly addresses the question of how parent’s narcissistic traits affect their children's development in adulthood. The purpose of this study is precisely to explore the life experiences of having a narcissistic parent and expose a phenomenon that installs various consequences on the child's mental and emotional development. For this study, the qualitative method was used as a way of analyzing and interpreting the experiences of the cases taken in the study. Through this study, it is explained how the narcissistic parent affects the creation of the child's personality, the experience of emotions, intellectual formation, and psycho-social development. Future research should identify the factors that mediate the effects of parental narcissism on child development in order to provide the most effective interventions.