How sex indirectly affects problematic alcohol drinking through the Dark Triad of personality

The cross-sectional study was performed in a sample of 565 university students from Poland, aged between 18 and 46 years (M = 23.25, SD = 3.96), including 79.47% of females. The online survey was developed in the Google Forms to assess problematic drinking (using the brief Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test [bMAST]) and the Dark Triad of personality (using Dirty Dozen Dark Triad [DDDT]). Male students showed significantly higher scores than females in the alcohol-related problems scale of the bMAST and all traits of the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Among three traits of the Dark Triad, only Machiavellianism can play a mediating role in the relationship between male sex and alcohol-related problems.