Introduction to the Special Issue on Narcissistic Personality Disorder (original) (raw)

The narcissistic personality disorder

2014

Population values of regression coefficients χ 2 Chi-square distribution η p 2 Partial Eta squared-effect size κ Cohen's measure of agreement corrected for chance agreement Λ Wilk's multivariate test criterion ρ Spearmen's correlation coefficient

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: An Integrative Review of Recent Empirical Data and Current Definitions

Current Psychiatry Reports, 2014

Although concepts of pathological narcissism are as old as psychology and psychiatry itself, only a small number of clinical studies are based on the criteria for narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals of Mental Disorders (DSM). As a result, NPD appears to be one of the most controversially discussed nosological entities in psychiatry. Whereas the majority of empirical studies used self or other ratings of NPD criteria to address issues of reliability and validity of the diagnostic category (i.e., internal consistency, factor structure, discriminant validity), only recent research has applied experimental designs to investigate specific features of NPD (e.g., self-esteem, empathy, shame). The aim of this review is to summarize available empirical data on NPD and relate these findings to current definitions of NPD (according to the DSM-5, [1]). In order to do so, this review follows the five steps to establishing diagnostic validity proposed by Robins and Guze [2], i.e., (1) clinical description, (2) laboratory studies, (3) delimitation from other disorders, (4) family studies, and (5) follow up studies. Finally, this review suggests pathways for future research that may assist further nosological evaluation of NPD and contribute to the overall goal, the improvement of treatment for patients.

Narcissism Mosquera & Knipe Journal EMDR.pdf

Narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic trait disorder are associated with selfish behaviors and lack of empathy toward others. Clients with either of these initial presentations in therapy show a selfcentered profile and lack of empathy or concern about the suffering they may cause in other people, but this is only part of the picture. Sometimes the lack of empathy and selfishness is only a defense. To fully understand this problem, it is also necessary to be aware of underlying self-definition issues that drive the behavioral manifestations of narcissism. As in any psychological problem, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment needs an understanding of how early experiences lead to future symptoms. Understanding the pathways from early experiences to narcissistic features (including covert presentations) is essential for an adequate case conceptualization as well as comprehending the defensive mental structures that impede accessing the core adverse experiences underlying the symptoms.

The concept of Narcissistic Personality Disorder–Three levels of analysis for interdisciplinary integration

Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022

In this paper, I distinguish three different levels for describing, and three corresponding ways for understanding, deficient empathy as the core of NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder). On the macro level, deficient empathy can be explained as disturbed interpersonal functioning, and is understood as lack ofrecognition. On the meso-level, deficient empathy can be described as psychic disintegration, and can be understood specifically in its dissocial aspects. Psychic disintegration in NPD correlates with somatic changes, i.e., dysfunctional affective empathy and mind-reading on the micro level of description, which is the third level. The “core-deficit-model of NPD” that I outline, while not rejecting reductionist approaches outright, argues in favor of integrating (top-down/bottom-up) functionalist descriptions of empathy into a wider conceptual framework of bio-psycho-social functioning. The “core-deficit-model of NPD” is interdisciplinary, can bypass monodisciplinary skepticism, and removes purported barriers between explaining and understanding the “lack” of empathy as the core of pathological narcissism.

Narcissistic Pathology: Empirical Approaches

Psychiatric Annals, 2009

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Empirical overview of narcissistic personality disorder

This chapter reviews recent developments in the empirical understanding of narcissistic personality disorder as defined in DSM-III and DSM-III-R. Empirical psychiatric methodology is used to test the validity of this new diagnostic entity by comparing it to other well-established psychiatric diagnoses and to another closely related personality disorder, borderline personality disorder. It is through such empirical investigation of reliably diagnosed patients that psychoanalytic conceptualizations can be tested, scrutinized, and refined in light of the empirical reality of patients' lives, an essential step if narcissistic personality disorder is to move from an exclusively psychoanalytic concept into the realm of empirical psychiatry.

Pathological narcissism and the depressive temperament

Journal of Affective Disorders, 2010

Background: Although relations between depressive and narcissistic pathologies have been proposed in both psychoanalytic and phenomenological literatures, empirical research generally fails to confirm this link. Common measures of narcissism, however, emphasize grandiose rather than vulnerable traits, and include both adaptive and maladaptive features. We therefore assessed the relation between narcissistic personality and depressive temperament (DT) using a recently developed measure designed to assess a wide range of pathological narcissistic (PN) traits. We also examined the distinctiveness of the association between DT and PN controlling other temperaments. Method: The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al., in press), the Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A; , and a modified Schedule of Fatigue and Anergia (SOFA; , were administered to 228 university students. Results: Principal component analyses yielded two components of PN: Component 1 items reflect narcissistic vulnerability-negative affect when narcissistic needs are not met; Component 2 items reflect narcissistic grandiosity-positive affect related to self-enhancement. Component 1 significantly predicted DT, an effect that remained after controlling for Component 2 and other temperaments in the TEMPS-A and SOFA. A similar effect was observed for the anxious temperament. Limitations: Our study is limited by the use of a homogenous, non-clinical university student sample unscreened for clinical depression, and by reliance on self-report questionnaires. Conclusions: Contrary to past research, DT is associated with narcissistic disturbance, in particular with the avoidance of narcissistic injury, when the PNI is used. Clinical intervention targeting this avoidance might help patients with a DT develop self-esteem that is not overly dependant upon recognition from others.

Narcissistic Pathology as Core Personality Dysfunction: Comparing the DSM-IV and the DSM-5 Proposal for Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2012

Narcissistic personality disorder and related concepts have a complex history and have been subject to extensive theoretical discourse but relatively little empirical research. An initial proposal for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5) that suggested eliminating this disorder as a discrete personality disorder type met with considerable controversy that ultimately led to its reinstatement in subsequent proposals. Nonetheless, the DSM-5 proposal for personality disorders as a whole would involve a significantly different formulation of narcissistic personality from that described in DSM-IV-one that places a greater emphasis on shared deficits among all personality disorders that tap elements thought to fall on the narcissistic spectrum, such as deficits in empathic capacity. This article describes this revised formulation, and presents a case study that illustrates the similarities and differences in the DSM-IV and proposed DSM-5 portrayal of narcissistic issues and related clinical problems over the course of a particular treatment.