Development of Self-Report Inventory of Narcissistic Abuse for Female Adults

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to develop a self-report inventory of Narcissistic Abuse. This research comprised of eight steps of scale development recommended by Devellis (2016). The basic qualitative research design was employed. In the first step participants who have experience of gaslighting were recruited through purposive and then screened through Victim Gaslighting Questionnaire (VGQ). The sample was N=10 with age range 23-41 years (M=31.1). The in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants to gain the participants opinions and knowledge and valuable insights into the nature and impact of this form of abuse. The Data analysis was performed through reflexive thematic analysis. A pool of potential items was generated from the data gathered from interviews. To establish content validity the items generated were refined through expert consultation and reviews. On solitude items a pilot study was conducted on a small sample N=15 to ensure construct validity. On refined and finalized items N=65 data was collected from sample of N=340 female adults. The Collected data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. The scale underwent to principal component analysis using varimax rotation method, resulting in 62 items retained with-in a well-defined 5-factor structure. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency with alpha coefficient of .98. The positive relationship of this scale with Profile of Psychological Abuse for Women (Sackett and Saunder, 1999) supported its convergent validity (r = .73). In summary, the Inventory of Narcissistic Abuse exhibit promising qualities with good items homogeneity, internal consistency and a meaningful pattern of validity. This study will helps in identifying individuals who have experienced narcissistic abuse and might be helpful to assist mental health professional in tailoring intervention for survivors of narcissistic abuse.