Parenting and Criminal Thinking: The Role of Dark Tetrad Traits Among Drug Rehabilitation Patients in Pakistan

Drug addiction poses severe challenges for public health and criminal justice systems, extending beyond physical and psychological harms to include crime, violence, and social breakdown. One psychological pathway often examined is criminal thinking, defined as maladaptive cognitive styles that normalize and justify unlawful behavior. The present study investigated how perceived parenting and Dark Tetrad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism) relate to criminal thinking among drug addicts in Pakistan. Data were collected from 123 male participants in rehabilitation centers in Lahore using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Short Dark Tetrad (SD4), and the Criminal Thinking Scale(CTS). Correlation analyses revealed that parental care was negatively related to certain aspects of criminal thinking, while parental control showed positive associations with maladaptive cognitions. Regression analyses indicated that Dark Tetrad traits particularly Machiavellianism and psychopathy/sadism were the strongest predictor criminal thinking. However, mediation analysis found no evidence that these traits explained the link between parenting and criminal thinking, as parental variables did not significantly predict dark traits. Family system comparisons showed that individuals from joint families reported higher maternal care, while those from nuclear families scored higher on impulsive “wild” traits, but no differences were observed in overall criminal thinking. The findings says that maladaptive personality traits play a stronger role parenting styles in sustaining criminal cognition among addicts in Pakistan, with cultural nuances in family structure offering some protective influences.