SynthesisJournal of personality2026
Weapon or Armor? Unpacking the Paradox of Narcissism and Self-Reported Mental Health Through a Three-Level Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of personality, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Childhood trauma and psychological symptoms in young adults: examining the mediating role of vulnerable narcissism and the moderating role of psychological resilience.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis meta-analysis examined the relationships between different dimensions of narcissism and mental health, with a specific focus on internalizing forms of psychopathology.
methodA systematic search identified 229 empirical studies (N = 185,137; k = 735 effect sizes) from four international databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, OATD) and two Chinese databases (CNKI, Wanfang Data). Because most studies relied on self-report measures, the findings primarily reflect self-reported associations. Random-effects models were used to estimate overall effects, and moderation analyses tested the roles of demographic, methodological, and construct-related variables.
resultsGrandiose narcissism was positively associated with positive mental health (r = 0.19, p < 0.001) and showed no significant association with negative mental health (r = 0.02, p = 0.26). Vulnerable narcissism was negatively associated with positive mental health (r = -0.25, p < 0.001) and positively associated with negative mental health (r = 0.39, p < 0.001). Findings based on the Admiration-Rivalry model and the three-factor model provided additional clarity regarding these associations. Significant moderators included age, measurement instruments, and construct specificity.
conclusionsThese results clarify dimension-specific links between narcissism and mental health and provide a more nuanced understanding of narcissism's psychological correlates.
trial registrationPROSPERO: Registration No. CRD420251016464.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.