Citation

Lee-Rowland LM, Lui JHL, Bortfeld D, Barry CT, Reiter S. Aggressive Behav. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ab.21888

PMID

32147859

Abstract

Narcissism and callous-unemotional (CU) traits have demonstrated relations with youth aggression across studies. However, different forms of narcissism and internalizing problems may exacerbate the relation between CU traits and aggression. To that end, the current study examined the degree to which interactions among internalizing problems, CU traits, and dimensions of narcissism related to aggression in a sample of 219 adolescents (83.1% males), ages 16-19, enrolled in a military-style residential program. Consistent with previous research, psychopathy-linked narcissism significantly moderated the relation between CU traits and aggression. Addtionally, self-reported aggression was highest among adolescents who endorsed high levels of CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism, and internalizing problems. The same pattern of results was not evident for other forms of narcissism. These results suggest that internalizing problems further increase the probability of aggression among adolescents with psychopathic tendencies (i.e., CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism). Further implications are discussed.

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

CU traits; aggression; internalizing problems; narcissism