Background: This study aimed to examine the relationship between some personality characteristics of patients diagnosed with
psychotic disorders and the quality of their engagement in psychodynamic group psychotherapy. Given that previous research has
shown that self-stigma is significantly negatively associated with the engagement of patients, the measure of self-stigma was used as
a correlate of patients’ motivation to participate in group psychotherapy.
Subjects and methods: A total of 48 outpatients (52.1% women; mean age 35.30 years) attending group psychodynamic
psychotherapy completed The Inventory of Personality Organization, The Pathological Narcissism Inventory, The Measure of
Parental Style, The Relationship Questionnaire, and The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale.
Results: The findings showed that patients with higher levels of self-stigma have unhealthy attachments styles, perceived their
mothers´ parental style as indifferent and achieved greater scores on narcissistic vulnerability scale. They are also are prone to
primitive psychological defences, have poorly integrated identity, and achieved lower scores on reality testing dimension.
Conclusion: Taking into account the limitations of this study, these findings may contribute to improved understanding of the
quality of participation and engagement of psychotic patients in group psychotherapy, and may help to develop more effective
therapeutic approaches
