The Relations of Emotion Dysregulation and Distress Tolerance with Adolescent Narcissism

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

This study examined the relations of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism with emotional dysregulation and distress tolerance in a sample of at-risk adolescents. Additionally, our research sought to examine whether poor emotional regulation and distress tolerance exacerbated the established relations of adolescent narcissism with aggression and anxiety. Poor distress tolerance, emotional dysregulation, and narcissism all share an association with poor empathic functioning (Baskin-Sommers et al., 2014; Batson et al., 1987). Among other features, narcissism includes self-absorption, entitlement, and the exploitation of others (Brown et al., 2016). More specifically, vulnerable narcissism is defined by hypersensitivity to the opinions of others, constant evaluation and comparison to others, and obvious distress, whereas grandiose narcissism involves attention-seeking behaviors, arrogance, and little observable distress (Caligory et al., 2015).

Narcissism has been linked to various difficulties in adolescents, such as aggression, low self-esteem, and conduct problems (Lee-Rowland et al., 2020; Barry et al., 2003). Poor empathic functioning, an important correlate of narcissism, may be indicative of unstable attachment and poor emotion regulation skills in people with traits of vulnerable narcissism (Baskin-Sommers et al., 2014). Distress tolerance and empathic functioning have also been linked, in that higher levels of distress tolerance makes it easier to have secure empathic engagement with others (Baskin-Sommers et al., 2014). Given these associations, we hypothesized that vulnerable narcissism would be associated with higher emotional dysregulation and lower distress tolerance. Further, emotional dysregulation and distress tolerance were expected to exacerbate and mitigate, respectively, the relations of narcissism with aggression and anxiety.

Data were collected from 329 participants (ages 16-19), who were attending a residential military-style intervention program. Participants completed the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS; Simmons & Gaher, 2005), Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al., 2009), Narcissistic Personality Inventory for Children (NPIC; Barry et al., 2003), the Peer Conflict Scale (Marsee & Frick, 2007) and Personality Assessment Inventory for Adolescents (PAI-A; Morey, 1991).

As expected, vulnerable narcissism, measured with the PNI, was positively correlated with emotional dysregulation (r = .30, p = .001) and negatively correlated with distress tolerance (r = -.21, p = .001). Grandiose narcissism, measured with the NPIC, was negatively correlated with emotional dysregulation (r = -.17, p = .01). Regression analyses demonstrated an interaction between grandiose narcissism and emotion dysregulation for predicting variance in aggression. Specifically, higher levels of grandiose narcissism and emotional dysregulation were related to higher levels of aggression. These findings indicate that the theorized difficulty with self-regulation applies particularly to vulnerable, rather than grandiose, narcissism in adolescents. However, a combination of grandiose narcissism and poor emotion regulation skills may heighten the risk of aggression, consistent with Morf and Rhodewalt’s (2001) self-regulation model of narcissism. These findings are valuable in furthering past research between vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. Distress tolerance and emotional dysregulation as they relate to self-perception and aggression may be especially important in adolescence, given the regulation and distress tolerance skills that are continuing to develop during that time.

Authors

• Josh Underwood, Washington State University
  Presenting Author

• Christopher Barry, Washington State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nora Charles, University of Southern Mississippi
  Non-Presenting Author