Personalidade infantojuvenil: proposta de mensuração da tétrade sombria

Abstract

Researchers have focused their studies on describing and understanding dark aspects of human personality. This work was guided by the theory of dark personality traits and encompasses the subclinical forms of narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism, referred to in the literature as the Dark Tetrad. Thus, this study aimed to verify the adequacy of the Dark Tetrad model among children and adolescents in two independent samples in the Brazilian context. To this end, two studies were conducted with independent samples of participants aged 9 to 17. Study 1 (N = 303 participants, Mage = 13.79, SD = 2.48) indicated after Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) the adequacy of the Dark Tetrad model of child and adolescent personality, with the combination of items from Dark Triad Scale – Children and Adolescents Version (DTS – CA) and the Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP), in which evidence of validity and accuracy was gathered [CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.05 (90% CI = 0.04 – 0.06); α = 0.80 and ꞷ = 0.86]. In Study 2, with an independent sample (N = 310 participants, Mage = 13.82, SD = 2.47), the adjustment of the tetrad model was corroborated through CFA and adequate reliability of the measure was found [CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.05 (90% CI = 0.03 - 0.06); α = 0.80 and ꞷ = 0.86]. Furthermore, complementary evidence was found from significant correlations between the variables of the instrument from Study 1, the Dark Tetrad Traits Scale for Children and Adolescents (DTTS - CA) and external variables, specifically empathy, assessed by the Empathy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (EmQue-CA) and aggressive behavior, assessed by the Brief Peer Conflict Scale (PCS-20). Therefore, the findings support the four-factor structure of the Dark Tetrad in children and adolescents and indicate that the final version of the DTTS-CA, consisting of 16 items, presents adequate validity and reliability.