Healing the next generation: an adaptive agent model for the effects of parental narcissism

Abstract

Parents play an important role in the mental development of a child. In our previous work, we addressed how a narcissistic parent influences a child (online/offline) when (s)he is happy and admires the child. Now, we address the influence of a parent who is not so much pleased, and may curse the child for being the reason for his or her unhappiness. An abusive relationship with a parent can also cause trauma and poor mental health of the child. We also address how certain coping behaviors can help the child cope with such a situation. Therefore, the aim of the study is threefold. We present an adaptive agent model of a child, while incorporating the concept of mirroring through social contagion, the avoidance behaviors from a child, and the effects of regulation strategies to cope with stressful situations.