Abstract:
This research’s focus was to develop and validate “The Early Life Dynamics and
Narcissism Scale” (ELDNS). A culturally sensitive therapeutic screening tool, designed to
identify impacts of early life dynamics and parenting styles on Narcissistic tendencies in
men. The development of “ELDNS” followed a rigorous methodology, utilizing a mixed
method approach, diving the study into five phases that included purposive sampling in
which interviews were conducted from eight narcissistic personality disorder diagnosed
patients. Succeeded by expert’s content validation by clinical psychologists. The semi
structured interview questions were designed in accordance to research’s objectives, these
questions included adverse childhood experiences, parenting styles and family histories.
Preliminary set of 29 items were refined by expert evaluation, that was finalized for pilot
study and explanatory factor analysis. Factor analysis identified two principal factors:
“Childhood familial dynamics and adverse experiences “and “Parental influence and
emotional outcomes”. The scale exhibited exceptional reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.78)
and test-retest stability, affirming its efficacy as a tool for screening out early life dynamics
and parenting styles that had an effect on Narcissistic Personality Disorder etiology.
Moreover, evaluations of convergent and divergent validity demonstrated the scale’s
precision. This tool would have great clinical implications.
