Paranoia and interpersonal functioning across the continuum from healthy to pathological: Network analysis

Objective Previous research has suggested that paranoia is associated with impaired social functioning in patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals with high levels of paranoid ideation. This study analysed the relationship between paranoia and interpersonal functioning across the paranoia continuum using network analysis. Method Levels of paranoid ideation and interpersonal functioning were measured in a non‐clinical sample (N = 853) and in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (N = 226). Network analyses were used to examine the nature of paranoia's relation to interpersonal functioning in both populations. Results Although the most central characteristic of paranoia in both samples was the feeling of being talked about behind one's back, across samples, individual characteristics were differentially related to various aspects of interpersonal functioning. Among clinical individuals, difficulties in interpersonal functioning were related to perceived previous experiences of being treated poorly by others, whereas among the non‐clinical sample, interpersonal functioning was related to negative beliefs about others. Conclusions The current results support previous findings linking paranoid ideation to interpersonal functioning in both clinical and non‐clinical samples. Patterns of these relationships differed slightly across groups. Results in general support a continuum model of paranoia.