کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
332216 | 545680 | 2011 | 6 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
The hypothesis that persecutory delusions function to enhance self-esteem implies that patients will show normal explicit, but low implicit self-esteem. As evidence for this has been inconsistent, our study assessed delusional state, explicit and implicit self-esteem and depression in a large sample (n = 139) of schizophrenia patients with acute persecutory delusions (n = 28), patients with remitted persecutory delusions (n = 31), healthy controls (n = 59), and depressed controls (n = 21). Patients with delusions and patients with depression both showed decreased levels of explicit, but normal levels of implicit self-esteem when compared to healthy controls. The direct comparison of levels of explicit and implicit self-esteem within each group revealed that healthy controls had higher explicit than implicit self-esteem, while the converse pattern was found for depressed controls. No discrepancy between explicit and implicit self-esteem was found for acute deluded or remitted patients with schizophrenia. Although these findings do not support the hypothesis that delusions serve to enhance self-esteem, they underline the relevance of low self-esteem in patients with persecutory delusions and point to the necessity of enhancing self-esteem in therapy.
Journal: Psychiatry Research - Volume 186, Issues 2–3, 30 April 2011, Pages 197–202