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Narcissism and Quality of Life: The Mediating Role of Relationship Patterns
Abstract
Pathological narcissism is associated with decreased quality of life, even when accounting for psychiatric comorbidity, but the processes behind this association are unclear. Here, we evaluate whether disturbed relatedness accounts for the negative association between narcissistic pathology and quality of life. Patients in day hospital treatment for personality pathology (N = 218, 70% female; mean age, 37.3 years) completed measures of personality disorder features, quality of life, and global symptoms before beginning treatment. Quality of object relations was assessed through semistructured interviews. Regression-based mediation analyses showed that narcissistic personality traits relate to quality of life through quality of object relations, controlling for other personality disorders and psychiatric distress. These results highlight the importance of problematic relationship patterns for the low quality of life associated with pathological narcissism. Clinicians working with narcissistic individuals should consider psychotherapies that promote mature relatedness and should attend to facilitating the quality of patients' relationships.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Ellison, W. D., Acuff, M. C., Kealy, D., Joyce, A. S., & Ogrodniczuk, J. S.
- Affiliations
- Trinity University (US)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Ellison, William D.
- Acuff, M. Chase
- Venue
- Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease
- Published
- 2020-03-31
- Volume
- 208
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 613-618
- ISSN
- 0022-3018 (ISSN-L)
- 1539-736X
- OpenAlex
- W3005553816
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5
- FWCI
- 0.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons - Trinity University (Trinity University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (57672, 63645)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Keywords
- pathological narcissism, narcissistic personality traits, quality of life, object relations, relatedness, personality disorders, mediation, day hospital treatment, relationship patterns
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alberta, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Narcissism, Object Attachment, Outpatients, Personality Disorders, Quality of Life, Regression Analysis
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