Abstract

This study investigated the attachment style, the family cohesiveness, and the mode of family communication in paranoia. In study 1, the Paranoia Scale, the Self-report Attachment Style Questionnaire, the Adult Attachment Scale, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale, the Parent-Adolescent Communication Inventory, the Self-concept Scale were administered to 560 college students, and the paranoid and non-paranoid students were selected according to the scores of the Paranoia Scale. The paranoid students showed more fearful and preoccupied attachment style and less secure attachment style than non-paranoid students. And they showed more anxiety and less dependency and intimacy than non-paranoids. In family adaptability and cohesion, the paranoid students showed low adaptability and cohesion than non-paranoids. And they showed more dysfunctional family communication than non-paranoids. In Study 2, the questionnaires were administered to 20 persecutory deluded patients, 20 psychiatric controls, and 20 normal controls. The persecutory deluded patients showed more preoccupied and fearful attachment styles than control groups. And they showed more anxiety and less intimacy in attachment. And also, they showed more dysfunctional family communication than control groups. The suggestions and the limitations of this study, and the directions of future study were discussed.