Parental Overprotection and Adolescents’ Interpersonal Problems: The Mediating Effects of Covert Narcissism and Fear of Failure

Objectives: This study examined whether covert narcissism and fear of failure mediated the relationship between adolescents’ perceptions of parental overprotection and interpersonal problems.Methods: A total of 252 high school students completed a self-reported questionnaire. Serial multiple mediation analyses were conducted using SPSS PROCESS macro 4.1, and the significance of the indirect effects was assessed using bootstrapping.Results: First, parental overprotection did not have a direct effect on interpersonal problems. Second, parental overprotection indirectly influenced adolescents’ interpersonal problems through covert narcissism. Higher levels of parental overprotection were associated with greater covert narcissism in adolescents, which in turn led to more interpersonal problems. Third, paternal overprotection influenced adolescents' interpersonal problems through fear of failure, whereas maternal overprotection did not significantly affect fear of failure. Specifically, paternal overprotection increaed fear of failure in adolescents, which subsequently led to more interpersonal problems. However, this effect was not observed with maternal overprotection. Finally, parental overprotection was found to influence adolescents' interpersonal problems through the sequential mediation of covert narcissism and fear of failure. Higher parental overprotection increased covert narcissism and fear of failure, ultimately contributing to adolescents’ interpersonal problems.Conclusion: By examining the environmental factors of parental overprotection and individual factors, such as covert narcissism and fear of failure, this study provides a multifaceted analysis of the underlying causes of adolescents' interpersonal problems. These findings offer useful insights for developing parenting education and counseling programs aimed at preventing interpersonal problems during adolescence.