Abstract [eng] |
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are related with narcissistic personality (NP) traits, aggression, and shame in adulthood. To help individuals who were abused or neglected in childhood to adaptively regulate their anger, hostility and reduce aggressive behaviour, it is important to examine factors that may influence the relationship between ACE and aggression in adulthood. Research examining the mediating role of NP trait and shame-proneness on the link between ACE and aggression amongst adults is lacking. The total of 224 participants (164 women, 60 men) aged 18 to 74 took part in the research. All participants completed the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, Experience of Shame Scale, Brief – Pathological Narcissism Inventory, Aggression Questionnaire remotely. Based on the results, participants with histories of childhood physical abuse, compared to none abused, reported significantly more childhood emotional abuse and neglect, reported experiencing more NP traits, shame, anger, hostility, and physical aggression, but not verbal aggression. Serial mediation analyses showed that shame-proneness fully mediated the relation between ACE and hostility in adulthood. Shame-proneness together with narcissistic vulnerability fully mediated the relation between ACE and anger or ACE and hostility in adulthood. |