The lonely road to paranoia. A path-analytic investigation of loneliness and paranoia

The association between loneliness and paranoia was significantly and fully mediated by negative schemata of others. Moreover, a low level of perceived social support was significantly associated with loneliness, whereas self-reported frequency of social contact was not. The present results highlight the potential role of interpersonal negative schemata in the formation and maintenance of paranoia and elucidate the crucial role of loneliness in the way individuals construe themselves within a social environment.