“I will love you (me) forever”—A longitudinal study of narcissism and emotional adjustment during the transition to motherhood.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the differential implications of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism for women’s adjustment during the transition to motherhood. A total of 385 Israeli women participated in the study during their pregnancy (Time 1) and 2 months postpartum (Time 2). Participants filled out a battery of questionnaires assessing their levels of narcissism (Time 1), the body experience during pregnancy (Time 1) and motherhood (Time 2), their attachment to the fetus (Time 1) and to the baby (Time 2), their anticipated maternal self-efficacy (Time 1) and maternal self-efficacy (Time 2), and their subjective well-being (Time 2). Results suggest that grandiose narcissism was associated with higher levels of well-being at Time 2 through the mediation of both attachment to the infant at Time 1 and bonding to the baby at Time 2 and through positive body experience at Time 2. Vulnerable narcissism was associated with lower levels of well-being at Time 2 through the mediation of body experience and maternal self-efficacy at Time 1 and Time 2 and attachment to the infant at Time 2. These findings point to the significant and differential role of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism in the adjustment to motherhood through the mediating role of early motherhood tasks.

Sense of Self in First-Time Pregnancy

“…suggest that during their first pregnancy, women report feeling less control and ownership over their bodies, that their bodies are stared at, touched and evaluated more, but also that they feel more attractiveness, femininity, pride, competence and self-confidence. In contrast to earlier studies (Mooney et al, 2023;Talmon et al, 2021;Talmon & Ginzburg, 2018), here, we adapted the Body Experiences scale to include a non-pregnant cohort, so this result confirms that these experiences related to the body are significantly different in pregnancy compared to women in the general population.…”

“Never Learned to Love Properly”: A Qualitative Study Exploring Romantic Relationship Experiences in Adult Children of Narcissistic Parents

“…Current, albeit sparse, literature alludes to narcissistic individuals engaging in dysfunctional parenting styles. Studies have found that narcissistic parents may employ sub-optimal parenting strategies in terms of permissiveness and authoritarianism (Hart et al 2017), prefer partners who are over-controlling as parents (Lyons et al 2020) and struggle to adjust during the transition to parenthood (Talmon et al 2020). However, very little is known about the damage that narcissistic parents can cause to their children later in life.…”

Concept analysis of transition to motherhood: a methodological study

“…To date, studies related to the transition to motherhood have mainly focused on the psychological dimensions of pregnancy and giving birth [14,15]. Additionally, studies have dealt with attachment and bonding with children rather than the mother as the focal point [16,17].…”