# Do They Already Feel Like Frauds? Exploring the Impostor Phenomenon in Children and Adolescents

## TL;DR

The study finds that impostor feelings start in childhood and increase with age, linked to personality traits like low self-esteem and neuroticism.

## Contribution

This study is the first to systematically examine impostor feelings in children and adolescents, revealing their developmental trajectory and psychological correlates.

## Key findings

- Impostor feelings emerge in childhood and increase during adolescence.
- Higher impostor scores correlate with elevated neuroticism, lower extraversion, and lower self-esteem.
- Impostor feelings are linked to depressive-anxious symptoms and negatively associated with optimism and parental support.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
•Impostor feelings can already emerge in childhood and show a gradual increase across adolescence, indicating a developmentally sensitive trajectory rather than a phenomenon limited to adulthood.•Higher impostor scores in children and adolescents are associated with a personality profile characterized by elevated neuroticism, lower extraversion, and consciousness, as well as lower self-esteem (level, stability, and contingency).

Impostor feelings can already emerge in childhood and show a gradual increase across adolescence, indicating a developmentally sensitive trajectory rather than a phenomenon limited to adulthood.

Higher impostor scores in children and adolescents are associated with a personality profile characterized by elevated neuroticism, lower extraversion, and consciousness, as well as lower self-esteem (level, stability, and contingency).

What are the implications of the main findings?
•The early emergence of impostor feelings underscores the necessity of conceptualizing impostorism as a developmentally salient, predominantly subclinical phenomenon with potential implications for mental health across the lifespan.•Preventive efforts in childhood and adolescence, particularly those fostering stable self-worth and supportive, authoritative parenting, may help mitigate the consolidation of impostor feelings and related internalizing symptoms.

The early emergence of impostor feelings underscores the necessity of conceptualizing impostorism as a developmentally salient, predominantly subclinical phenomenon with potential implications for mental health across the lifespan.

Preventive efforts in childhood and adolescence, particularly those fostering stable self-worth and supportive, authoritative parenting, may help mitigate the consolidation of impostor feelings and related internalizing symptoms.

Objectives: The Impostor Phenomenon (IP), defined as persistent self-doubt despite objective success, has been extensively researched in adults. In contrast, empirical research on children and adolescents remains limited. Methods: The present study examines the prevalence, correlates, and potential risk as well as protective factors of the IP in a sample of 286 participants (56.6% female, 42.7% male, and 0.7% diverse) aged 8–18 years (M = 11.75, SD = 2.50). Participants were recruited from four distinct German subsamples between 2022 and 2024, including a clinically vulnerable group. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design administered to children and adolescents. Results: The results of the study indicate the presence of the IP as early as primary school age, with increasing intensity during adolescence. The study identified robust correlations between the IP and neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and self-esteem. In the present study, children and adolescents exhibiting depressive–anxious symptomatology demonstrated significantly elevated impostor scores in comparison to those manifesting other disorders. Furthermore, the study yielded negative associations between impostorism and various personal resources (e.g., optimism, self-efficacy) and family resources (e.g., parental support, authoritative parenting style). Conclusions: The present findings underline the importance of early intervention in addressing impostor feelings among younger age groups. In conclusion, the present findings contribute to our understanding of the IP etiology and underscore the importance of understanding the IP during formative years to inform prevention and intervention strategies.