Abstract
Adolescent depression is a growing concern, and recent research has highlighted the links between poor sleep, the Dark Triad (DT) personality characteristics, and depressive symptoms. However, the intricate interrelationships between these variables remain largely unknown. To fill this research gap, we conducted an exploratory study with 302 adolescents aged 12 to 18. Participants completed online questionnaires, including the Dirty Dozen, the Consensus Sleep Diary (CSD), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Our findings indicate that adolescents who experience more problematic sleep patterns and higher levels of DT traits tended to exhibit greater depressive symptoms. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism, in particular, were strong predictors of depression in adolescents, while no significant relationship was found between narcissism and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, our study examined how sleep patterns moderated the link between DT traits and depression. We found that sleep latency and efficiency significantly moderated the association between psychopathy and depression. The findings suggest that specific sleep parameters can influence the link between DT and depression, providing important implications for the prevention and treatment of depression in adolescents. Overall, our study highlights the complex interrelationships between sleep, the Dark Triad, and adolescent depression and provides important insights for research and clinical work in the future.
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The corresponding author can provide the dataset that was employed in this study upon a reasonable request.
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Paknejad, N., Mazandarani, A.A. Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sleep patterns as predictors of adolescent depression. Curr Psychol 43, 14201–14210 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05467-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05467-3