Different coping strategies amongst individuals with grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the relationships between coping with stress responses and grandiose and vulnerable narcissist traits. METHOD: A community sample of 170 adults (113 female) participated in this study. A cross-sectional design was employed that utilized self-report measures of trait anxiety, social desirability, coping with stress responses, and pathological narcissism. RESULTS: Regression models indicated that both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism traits are significantly associated with, in opposing directions, behavioural disengagement responses to stress when controlling for trait anxiety and social desirability. Vulnerable narcissism traits were significantly associated with the use of denial as coping with stress response when controlling for the same factors. CONCLUSION: These findings provide further evidence of the discriminant validity of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory and inform our understanding of the differences that grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits have on coping

The unintentional procrastination scale

Procrastination refers to the delay or postponement of a task or decision and is often conceptualised as a failure of self-regulation. Recent research has suggested that procrastination could be delineated into two domains: intentional and unintentional. In this two-study paper, we aimed to develop a measure of unintentional procrastination (named the Unintentional Procrastination Scale or the 'UPS') and test whether this would be a stronger marker of psychopathology than intentional and general procrastination. In Study 1, a community sample of 139 participants completed a questionnaire that consisted of several items pertaining to unintentional procrastination that had been derived from theory, previous research, and clinical experience. Responses were subjected to a principle components analysis and assessment of internal consistency. In Study 2, a community sample of 155 participants completed the newly developed scale, along with measures of general and intentional procrastination, metacognitions about procrastination, and negative affect. Data from the UPS were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and revised accordingly. The UPS was then validated using correlation and regression analyses. The six-item UPS possesses construct and divergent validity and good internal consistency. The UPS appears to be a stronger marker of psychopathology than the pre-existing measures of procrastination used in this study. Results from the regression models suggest that both negative affect and metacognitions about procrastination differentiate between general, intentional, and unintentional procrastination. The UPS is brief, has good psychometric properties, and has strong associations with negative affect, suggesting it has value as a research and clinical tool

A metacognitive model of procrastination

BACKGROUND: procrastination refers to the delay or postponement of task or decision-making initiation or completion and is often conceptualised as a failure of self-regulation. Recent research has suggested that metacognitions play a role in procrastination and that unintentional procrastination (UP), as opposed to intentional procrastination (IP), may be the most problematic form of this behaviour. We aimed to test a metacognitive model of procrastination that was grounded in the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model. METHODS: a convenience sample of 400 participants were recruited and completed (at least partially) a battery of online questionnaires that measured IP and UP, metacognitions about procrastination, depression, and Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS) configurations. Initially, we tested series of hypotheses to establish the relationships between the experimental variables and to test whether CAS configurations would independently predict UP when controlling for age, depression, IP, metacognitions about procrastination, and whether an individual reported that they had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. RESULTS: CAS configurations, depression, and metacognitions independently predicted UP. Additionally, path analysis revealed that the study data was an excellent fit to the proposed metacognitive model of procrastination. LIMITATIONS: the study is cross-sectional. CONCLUSIONS: the metacognitive model of procrastination presented in this paper can be used to generate novel interventions to treat this problematic behaviour

Metacognitions in smoking : evidence from a cross-cultural validation of the metacognitions about smoking questionnaire in a Turkish sample

Metacognitions about the positive and negative effects of smoking have been associated with cigarette use and nicotine dependence. The aim of the present study was to validate the Turkish version of the Metacognitions about Smoking Questionnaire (MSQ; Nikcevic et al., 2015). The sample consisted of 859 self-declared smokers (452 female) aged between 18 and 68 years (mean = 28.3; SD = 7.9). Once the English to Turkish translation of the MSQ was completed, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted based on the four-factor structure of the original measure. Initially results suggested that this model was an inadequate fit of the data obtained. However, by allowing three pairs of items (within factor) to co-vary, a re-specified model was tested that was found to be a satisfactory fit of the data. Internal reliability and predictive validity of the translated scale were observed to be good. The Turkish version of the MSQ exhibited suitable psychometric properties. This study also showed that metacognitions about smoking predict nicotine dependence independently of demographic variables, length of cigarette use, negative affect, and smoking outcome expectancies

The contribution of metacognitions and attentional control to decisional procrastination

Earlier research has implicated metacognitions and attentional control in procrastination and self-regulatory failure. This study tested several hypotheses: (1) that metacognitions would be positively correlated with decisional procrastination; (2) that attentional control would be negatively correlated with decisional procrastination; (3) that metacognitions would be negatively correlated with attentional control; and (4) that metacognitions and attentional control would predict decisional procrastination when controlling for negative affect. One hundred and twenty-nine participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21, the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30, the Attentional Control Scale, and the Decisional Procrastination Scale. Significant relationships were found between all three attentional control factors (focusing, shifting, and flexible control of thought) and two metacognitions factors (negative beliefs concerning thoughts about uncontrollability and danger, and cognitive confidence). Results also revealed that decisional procrastination was significantly associated with negative affect, all measured metacognitions factors, and all attentional control factors. In the final step of a hierarchical regression analysis only stress, cognitive confidence, and attention shifting were independent predictors of decisional procrastination. Overall these findings support the hypotheses and are consistent with the Self-Regulatory Executive Function model of psychological dysfunction. The implications of these findings are discussed

A systematic review of treatments for Impulse Control Disorders and related behaviours in Parkinson's Disease

Impulse Control Disorders (ICDs) are a set of behaviours characterised by impulsivity despite known harm. Related to ICDs is the dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS), which is characterised by an addiction-like consumption of dopaminergic medication and punding. These behaviours all have an increased prevalence in Parkinson׳s disease (PD). The aim of this review is to identify treatments available for patients suffering from ICDs, DDS and punding in PD. Searches of The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, Embase, Medline and PsychInfo were conducted, using the entire timescale available. Seven out of the 688 papers retrieved met the inclusion criteria and were considered in this systematic review. One class I study, one class II study, and five class IV studies were identified. All studies demonstrated a positive effect on ICDs in PD. Research in this field is still in its early stages. At present, there is insufficient evidence to recommend any treatment over another. There is a need for more methodologically robust research, using larger, more generalisable samples, randomisation and meaningful follow-up periods. In addition, the use of a validated outcome measures should be implemented in future research efforts

Meta-cognitive beliefs about worry and pain catastrophising as mediators between neuroticism and pain behaviour

© 2015 The Australian Psychological SocietyBackground: The present study explored the relationship between neuroticism, meta-cognitive beliefs about worry, pain catastrophising, and pain behaviour. Methods: A non-clinical convenience sample of 308 participants completed the following four measures in this cross-sectional study: Neo Five-Factor Inventory, Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30, Pain Catastrophising Scale, and the Pain Behaviour Checklist. Results: A multiple-step multiple mediator analysis was employed to test a model in which (1) positive meta-cognitive beliefs about worry would mediate the relationship between neuroticism and pain catastrophising and (2) negative meta-cognitive beliefs about worry would mediate the relationship between pain catastrophising and self-reported pain behaviour. We also hypothesised that the combined effects of meta-cognitive beliefs about worry and pain catastrophising on self-reported pain behaviour would be independent of neuroticism. Results supported the proposed structure with pain catastrophising and meta-cognitive beliefs about worry mediating fully the effect of neuroticism on self-reported pain behaviour. Conclusions: These findings identify, for the first time in the literature, a link between meta-cognitive beliefs about worry and both self-reported pain behaviour and pain catastrophising. The implications of these findings are discussed. This is an electronic version of an article published in Spada, MM and Gay, H and Nikčevic, AV and Fernie, BA and Caselli, G (2016) Meta-cognitive beliefs about worry and pain catastrophising as mediators between neuroticism and pain behaviour. Clinical Psychologist, 20 (3). pp. 138-146. DOI 10.1111/cp.1208