The Interplay Between Vulnerable And Grandiose Narcissism, Emotion Dysregulation, And Distress Tolerance In Adolescents

This study investigated the relations of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism with emotion dysregulation and distress tolerance in a sample of at-risk adolescents. Data were collected from 329 participants (ages 16-19), who were attending a residential military-style intervention program. Vulnerable narcissism showed a negative correlation with distress tolerance and was positively correlated with emotion dysregulation. In contrast, grandiose narcissism was negatively related to emotion dysregulation and was not associated with distress tolerance. Furthermore, emotion dysregulation heightened the relation between grandiose narcissism and aggression. These findings indicate that the theorized difficulty with self-regulation applies particularly to vulnerable, rather than grandiose, narcissism in adolescents. The findings are discussed in the context of potential regulatory processes in adolescent narcissism.