DSM III and the narcissistic personality

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychoanalysis

Background:

• Understanding narcissistic personality disorder is crucial in clinical psychology.
• Psychoanalytic theories by Kohut and Kernberg offer detailed insights into narcissistic personality.
• The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM III) provides diagnostic criteria.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the works of Kohut and Kernberg concerning narcissistic personality.
• To compare descriptive and dynamic aspects of these psychoanalytic theories with DSM III criteria.
• To explore the relationship between narcissistic personality and borderline personality disorder.

Main Methods:

• Detailed examination of Kohut's and Kernberg's psychoanalytic literature.
• Recasting descriptive aspects of Kohut's and Kernberg's work into a symptom-oriented checklist.
• Direct comparison of the symptom checklist with DSM III criteria for narcissistic personality.

Main Results:

• DSM III criteria for narcissistic personality align well with the descriptive work of Kohut and Kernberg.
• The DSM III criteria represent a compilation of key features identified by these psychoanalysts.
• The criteria, while lacking proven reliability and validity, clinically describe a distinct patient group.

Conclusions:

• DSM III criteria offer a clinically useful description of narcissistic personality.
• Further research is needed to establish the reliability and validity of DSM III criteria.
• The criteria are viewed favorably for their ability to delineate a specific patient population.