The role of gender in the relationship between narcissism, self-esteem, and externalizing problems in children

Self-esteem and narcissism in childhood have attracted great research interest because of their concurrent and predictive associations with healthy and dysfunctional outcomes. However, the interaction between self-esteem and narcissism in predicting externalizing problems is complex and may vary by gender. The study addressed this issue by exploring through self- and parent-reported measures the associations between narcissism, self-esteem, and externalizing problems as a function of gender among a community sample of 579 schoolage children (51.60% boys; mean age = 10.00 years, SD = 1.03 years). Results showed that narcissism was positively, while self-esteem was negatively associated with externalizing problems. A significant three-way interaction emerged. Among boys, narcissism was positively associated with externalizing problems only among those with high self-esteem. Conversely, among girls, narcissism was positively associated with externalizing problems only among those with low self-esteem. In conclusion, understanding the nuanced interplay between narcissism, self-esteem, and gender can also provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions to mitigate externalizing problems in children.