A Comprehensive and Person-Centered View of the Association Between the Dark Triad and Youth Mental Health

Overview

Journal Front Psychiatry

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2022 Jul 18

PMID 35845457

Authors

Yunjun Hu

Xiaoyu Lan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Using a dual person-centered approach, the current study examined the Dark Triad profiles and mental health profiles among a large-scale sample of high school students. The study also simultaneously examined whether the emerging Dark Triad profiles could diverge in mental health profiles, delineating a thorough, and person-centered view of this association. To achieve these research aims, 1,640 Chinese high school students ( = 16.78; = 0.68; 57.6% females) participated in this study, and they were uniformly instructed to complete a set of well-established questionnaires. Results from latent profile analyses revealed five Dark Triad profiles-low Machiavellianism-psychopathy (7.4%), benevolent (61.7%), highly malevolent (6.7%), low narcissism (8.8%), and malevolent (15.4%)-and the following four mental health profiles: flourishing (37.7%), vulnerable (16.4%), troubled (33.9%), and highly troubled (12.4%). Moreover, results from multiple multinomial regression analyses showed that, among all five empirically derived Dark Triad profiles, students with the low Machiavellianism-psychopathy profile exhibited the highest probability of being "flourishing," whereas those with the low narcissism profile showed the highest likelihood of being "highly troubled."

Citing Articles

Dual-factor Models of Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence.

Magalhaes E Psychosoc Interv. 2024; 33(2):89-102.

PMID: 38706709 PMC: 11066810. DOI: 10.5093/pi2024a6.

Peer Relationship Profiles among Early Adolescents from Low-Income Families: The Unique and Combined Effects of Attachment to Mothers and Conscientiousness.

Lan X, Wang C, Cui G Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023; 20(5).

PMID: 36901358 PMC: 10002007. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054349.

Machiavellianism and learning-related subjective well-being among Chinese senior high school students: A moderated mediation model.

Yang M, Qu C, Guo H, Guo X, Tian K, Wang G Front Psychol. 2022; 13:915235.

PMID: 36248461 PMC: 9558827. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915235.

References

Soto J, Perez C, Kim Y, Lee E, Minnick M . Is expressive suppression always associated with poorer psychological functioning? A cross-cultural comparison between European Americans and Hong Kong Chinese. Emotion. 2011; 11(6):1450-5. DOI: 10.1037/a0023340. View

Gotz F, Bleidorn W, Rentfrow P . Age differences in Machiavellianism across the life span: Evidence from a large-scale cross-sectional study. J Pers. 2020; 88(5):978-992. DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12545. View

Taylor S, Sherman D, Kim H, Jarcho J, Takagi K, Dunagan M . Culture and social support: who seeks it and why?. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2004; 87(3):354-62. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.354. View

Simpson E, Vannucci A, Ohannessian C . Family functioning and adolescent internalizing symptoms: A latent profile analysis. J Adolesc. 2018; 64:136-145. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.02.004. View

Kam C, Zhou M . Is the Dark Triad Better Studied Using a Variable- or a Person-Centered Approach? An Exploratory Investigation. PLoS One. 2016; 11(8):e0161628. PMC: 5006973. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161628. View

Kaufman S, Yaden D, Hyde E, Tsukayama E . The Light vs. Dark Triad of Personality: Contrasting Two Very Different Profiles of Human Nature. Front Psychol. 2019; 10:467. PMC: 6423069. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00467. View

Hudson N . Lighten the darkness: Personality interventions targeting agreeableness also reduce participants' levels of the dark triad. J Pers. 2022; 91(4):901-916. DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12714. View

Lan X . Perceived parental warmth, emotional awareness, and positive adjustment profiles in Chinese and Italian early adolescents: A person-centered approach. J Adolesc. 2022; 94(2):206-223. DOI: 10.1002/jad.12018. View

Antaramian S, Huebner E, Hills K, Valois R . A dual-factor model of mental health: toward a more comprehensive understanding of youth functioning. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2010; 80(4):462-72. DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01049.x. View

10.

Kowalski C, Rogoza R, Saklofske D, Schermer J . Dark triads, tetrads, tents, and cores: Why navigate (research) the jungle of dark personality models without a compass (criterion)?. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2021; 221:103455. DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103455. View

11.

Ma Y, Ma C, Lan X . Openness to Experience Moderates the Association of Warmth Profiles and Subjective Well-Being in Left-Behind and Non-Left-Behind Youth. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(7). PMC: 8998741. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19074103. View

12.

Chi X, Liu X, Huang Q, Huang L, Zhang P, Chen X . Depressive Symptoms among Junior High School Students in Southern China: Prevalence, Changes, and Psychosocial Correlates. J Affect Disord. 2020; 274:1191-1200. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.034. View

13.

Jones D, Paulhus D . Introducing the short Dark Triad (SD3): a brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment. 2013; 21(1):28-41. DOI: 10.1177/1073191113514105. View

14.

Burtaverde V, Chraif M, Anitei M, Mihaila T . The incremental validity of the dark triad in predicting driving aggression. Accid Anal Prev. 2016; 96:1-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2016.07.027. View

15.

Daddis C . Desire for increased autonomy and adolescents' perceptions of peer autonomy: "Everyone else can; why can't I?". Child Dev. 2011; 82(4):1310-26. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01587.x. View

16.

Van Petegem S, Vansteenkiste M, Beyers W . The jingle-jangle fallacy in adolescent autonomy in the family: in search of an underlying structure. J Youth Adolesc. 2012; 42(7):994-1014. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-012-9847-7. View

17.

Garcia D, MacDonald S . Dark personality profiles: Estimating the cluster structure of the Dark Triad. Psych J. 2017; 6(3):239-240. DOI: 10.1002/pchj.175. View

18.

Tein J, Coxe S, Cham H . Statistical Power to Detect the Correct Number of Classes in Latent Profile Analysis. Struct Equ Modeling. 2014; 20(4):640-657. PMC: 3904803. DOI: 10.1080/10705511.2013.824781. View

19.

. Proceedings of the 3rd IPLeiria's International Health Congress : Leiria, Portugal. 6-7 May 2016. BMC Health Serv Res. 2016; 16 Suppl 3:200. PMC: 4943498. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-016-1423-5. View

20.

Fuligni A . Authority, autonomy, and parent-adolescent conflict and cohesion: a study of adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, Filipino, and European backgrounds. Dev Psychol. 1998; 34(4):782-92. DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.34.4.782. View