Pathological Narcissism and Depressive Symptoms in Psychiatric Outpatients: Mediating Role of Dysfunctional Attitudes

Objective The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between pathological narcissism (narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability), dysfunctional attitudes (perfectionism and dependency on other people), and depressive symptoms in psychiatric outpatients. Method A sample of 2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of clinical psychology 2014-04, Vol.70 (4), p.341-352
Main Authors: Marc(inko), Darko, Jaksic, Nenad, Ivezic, Ena, Skocic, Milena, Surányi, Zsuzsanna, Loncar, Mladen, Franic, Tomislav, Jakovljevic, Miro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitude
Clinical psychology
Correlation analysis
dependency
depression
Depression - physiopathology
dysfunctional attitudes
Female
Humans
Male
mediation
Mental depression
Mental Disorders - physiopathology
Mental health care
Middle Aged
Narcissism
narcissistic grandiosity
narcissistic vulnerability
Outpatients
pathological narcissism
perfectionism
Personality Disorders - classification
Personality Disorders - physiopathology
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Summary:Objective The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between pathological narcissism (narcissistic grandiosity and narcissistic vulnerability), dysfunctional attitudes (perfectionism and dependency on other people), and depressive symptoms in psychiatric outpatients. Method A sample of 234 adult psychiatric outpatients (57.3% male; mean age 44.39 years) completed the Pathological Narcissism Inventory, the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale–Form A, and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales–21. Results Narcissistic vulnerability exhibited unique positive correlations with depressive symptoms, whereas narcissistic grandiosity showed substantially weaker correlations with depressive symptoms. Perfectionism partially mediated the relationship between narcissistic vulnerability and depressive symptoms. The mediating role of dependency was not confirmed. Conclusions Among adult psychiatric outpatients, narcissistic vulnerability is more strongly related to depressive symptoms than narcissistic grandiosity, and dysfunctional perfectionism represents one of the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnostic criteria and the treatment of pathological narcissism.
ISSN:0021-9762
1097-4679
DOI:10.1002/jclp.22033