Paranoia and Grandiosity in the General Population: Differential Associations With Putative Causal Factors

Journal article

Worry, negative self-beliefs, and sleep disturbance have been identified as contributory factors to the onset, maintenance, and severity of paranoia. We tested the specificity of these contributory factors to paranoia compared to grandiosity, a different type of delusional ideation. Data were used from 814 adults from the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland (NKI-Rockland) study, a general population dataset. Paranoid and grandiose delusional ideation was assessed using the Peters Delusions Inventory (PDI-21) and correlated with self-reported worry (n = 228), negative self-beliefs (n = 485), and sleep quality (n = 655). Correlations were compared using Fisher's r-to-z transform to examine whether the magnitude of relationships differed by delusion type. Paranoia was significantly associated with worry, negative self-belief, and sleep quality. Grandiosity demonstrated significantly weaker relationships with worry and negative self-beliefs. Relationships with sleep quality were similar. We replicate previous reports that worry, negative self-beliefs and sleep quality are associated with paranoid ideation in the general population. We extend these findings by demonstrating that these contributory factors, particularly worry and negative self-beliefs, are associated with paranoid ideation to a greater extent than grandiosity. This suggests a degree of specificity of contributory factors to different types of delusional thinking, supporting the pursuit of specific psychological models and treatments for each delusion type.

Authors: Sheffield, JM; Brinen, AP; Freeman, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Frontiers Media
• Journal: Frontiers in Psychiatry
• Volume: 12
• Pages: 668152-668152
• Article number: 668152
• Publication date: 2021-04-30
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.668152
• EISSN: 1664-0640
• ISSN: 1664-0640
• Language: English
• Keywords: Narcissism; Psychiatry; Anxiety; Psychology; Grandiosity; Population; Paranoia; Delusion; Clinical psychology; Worry; Psychopathology; Social psychology; Medicine