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Self‐esteem and interpersonal functioning in psychiatric outpatients
Author(s) -
BJØRKVIK JOFRID,
BIRINGER EVA,
EIKELAND OLEJOHAN,
NIELSEN GEIR HØSTMARK
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00709.x
Subject(s) - psychology , interpersonal communication , psychiatry , self esteem , interpersonal relationship , clinical psychology , social psychology
This study explored associations between self‐esteem and interpersonal functioning in a one‐year clinic cohort of psychiatric outpatients ( n = 338). At intake, patients completed questionnaires measuring self‐esteem, interpersonal problems, interpersonal style, and general symptomatic distress. They were also diagnosed according to the ICD‐10. Interpersonal behaviour was measured along the agency and communion dimensions of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems – Circumplex [IIP‐C]. The results show that lower self‐esteem was associated with higher levels of interpersonal problems in general. Further, lower self‐esteem was first and foremost linked to frustrated agentic motives, as measured by the IIP‐C. Hence, the study concludes that fostering patient agency should be considered as an important goal in psychotherapy. Furthermore, the analyses revealed an interaction effect of agency and communion on self‐esteem, indicating a need for balancing the two motive dimensions. Finally, some questions are raised concerning the interpretation of the IIP‐C subscales in general.