Morris, Emma; (2004) Early relationships and emotional experience in two types of paranoia. Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Using a cross sectional group comparison design, this study tested theoretical predictions arising from the distinction between two types of persecutory delusions; 'Poor Me' and 'Bad Me' paranoia. Specifically, Trower and Chadwick (1995) propose that the two types can be related to early experience of relationships and vulnerability to different types of threat to self-construction. Participants currently experiencing persecutory delusions were reliably categorised as Bad Me or Poor Me by the researcher and a blind rater. A battery of self-report measures, which focused on the constructs hypothesised to differ between the two groups, was then administered and the responses of each group compared. Several theoretical predictions based on Trower and Chadwick's (1995) model were supported by the study. Namely, the Bad Me group was found to report early relationships with caregivers characterised by greater over-intrusion than the Poor Me group, and the Bad Me group also reported more shame and depression than the Poor Me group. However, the hypotheses that the Poor Me group would report early relationships characterised by neglect, and that each group would report greater vulnerability to different types of threat to self-construction were not supported. The findings suggest that persecutory delusions, which superficially appear to be similar in nature, may in fact reflect different experiences of early relationships and different psychological profiles.

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