The Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) in Reducing Dark Triad Personality Traits among University Students with High Levels of Self-Photography Obsession (Selfie)

The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of both Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) in reducing the Dark Triad personality traits among university students with high levels of selfie addiction. To achieve this objective, the study adopted the experimental method based on the experimental and control group design. The total number of participants in the experimental groups was 48 male and female students, with a mean age of 20.38 years and a standard deviation of 1.02 years. Participants in the experimental sample were randomly assigned to two main programs: one experimental group (males – females) and one control group (males – females) for each therapeutic program, with each group consisting of six students. This resulted in a total of eight groups: four experimental groups (two male experimental groups and two female experimental groups) and four control groups (two male control groups and two female control groups). The study tools consisted of: the Short Dark Triad Questionnaire (Jones & Paulhus, 2014) (Arabic adaptation: the researchers), the Selfie Addiction Scale (developed by the researchers), the Family Socioeconomic Status Scale (developed by Abdul Aziz Al-Shakhsh, 2013), the DBT program for reducing the Dark Triad (developed by the researchers), and the TFP program for reducing the Dark Triad (developed by the researchers). The results revealed the effectiveness of both the TFP program and the DBT program in reducing Dark Triad personality traits among male and female students, as there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-measurements in favor of the post-measurement in both experimental groups. Furthermore, the experimental groups in both programs outperformed the control groups in the post-measurement on the Dark Triad Questionnaire, confirming the positive impact of therapeutic interventions compared to no intervention. Both experimental groups in each program maintained the therapeutic gains achieved in the post-measurement, as no significant differences were found between the post- and follow-up measurements, indicating the short-term sustainability of the therapeutic effects after the program’s completion. No statistically significant differences were found between the effectiveness of the two programs (TFP and DBT) in reducing Dark Triad traits in the post-measurement, suggesting that both achieved comparable results in terms of efficiency.