Emotion dysregulation acts in the relationship between vulnerable narcissism and suicidal ideation

Abstract

Suicide behaviors are peculiar aspects of several cluster B disorders, including Narcissistic Personality Disorder. To date, it is still unclear which facet of narcissism is more related to the desire to die and which other factors are involved in this relationship. This study aims to offer preliminary empirical evidences concerning the relationship between narcissism, emotion dysregulation and suicide ideation. We administered the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), PID‐5‐BF (Personality Inventory for DSM‐5‐Short Form) and Beck Scale for Suicide ideation (BSI) to a sample of individuals with suicide ideation (n = 70) and a sample of community participants (n = 154). Controlling for age, gender and Negative Affectivity, we found that BSI scores correlated significantly with the vulnerable dimension of narcissism, but not with the grandiose one, and with all DERS dimension, apart from Awareness. Nevertheless, emotion dysregulation moderates the relationship between vulnerable narcissism and suicide ideation. Suicide ideation seems to be deeply connected with the vulnerable dimension of pathological narcissism and the relationship between the constructs is totally mediated by emotion dysregulation. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Validation of the pathological narcissistic inventory (PNI) and its brief form (B-PNI) in the Arabic language

“…Results indicating that narcissistic vulnerability shows positive associations with treatment utilization support prior evidence that patients with narcissistic traits possibly present for mental health services when their vulnerable self-state becomes predominant [21]. In addition, PNI vulnerability and PNI grandiosity are both associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts [7,22,23], and non-suicidal self-injury [24].…”

The concept of Narcissistic Personality Disorder–Three levels of analysis for interdisciplinary integration

“…Vulnerability does not count as constitutive for the clinical diagnosis of pathological narcissism, since pathological narcissism is phenomenally not associated with low self-esteem. Nevertheless, vulnerability finds expression in a higher than average tendency of harming oneself ( 8 ), in suicide ideation ( 9 ), addictions ( 10 ), especially substance abuse [e.g., alcohol ( 11 )]. This fact, together with a marked discrepancy between a positive future-orientation and an overall negative outlook ( 12 ) amounts to a an intrinsic vulnerability factor in NPD.…”

Narcissistic traits and compassion: Embracing oneself while devoiding others

“…Specifically, grandiose narcissism is linked to narcissistic rivalry, that is, derogating others ( Wurst et al, 2017 ) or using relationships to self-regulate emotions and behaviors to support an agentic self-view (e.g., Campbell et al, 2002 ), while vulnerable traits are related to increased victim mentality and partner mistreatment ( Brown, 2017 ). Adverse effects on the self of both types of narcissism include increased non-suicidal self-harm ( Dawood et al, 2018 ), and vulnerable narcissism specifically relates to reduced life satisfaction and increased anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation ( Miller et al, 2011 ; Rohmann et al, 2019 ; Ponzoni et al, 2021 ). As such, it begs the question if there are attributes that can alleviate the strain put on the self and others posed by individuals with grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits.…”