TABLE 2.
Naturalistic course of narcissistic personality disorder
| Study | Age | Gender (male %: female %) | Design/N | Length (years) | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plakun, 1989 (76) | Mean=24.5, SD=7.7 | 48:52 | Retrospective/17 | 13.6 | Poor functioning, poor romantic relationships |
| McGlashan and Neinssen, 1989 (77) | 16–55 | 42:58 | Retrospective/12 | 15 | Improvement similar to borderline personality disorder, more co-occurring alcohol use disorder, suicidality |
| Stone, 1989 (78) | 13–39 | 71:29 | Retrospective/20 | 16 | Improvement similar to borderline personality disorder; NPD+antisocial personality disorder worse overall outcome |
| Ronningstam et al., 1995 (79) | 22–45 | 85:15 | Prospective/20 | 3 | NPD categorical diagnosis: Reduction in NPD by 60% |
| Vater et al., 2014 (80) | Mean=34.8, SD=10.15 | 42.5:57.5 | Prospective/40 | 2 | NPD categorical diagnosis: 53% remission rate; NPD dimensional diagnosis: stable course |
| Durbin and Klein, 2006 (81) | 18–60 | 27.5:72.5 | Prospective/142 | 10 | NPD dimensional diagnosis: stable course |
| Hopwood et al., 2013 (82) | 18–45 | 38:62 | Prospective/266 | 10 | NPD dimensional diagnosis: 24% stability |
| Lenzenweger, 1999 (83) | 18–22 | 53:47 | Prospective/258 | 3 | NPD dimensional diagnosis: 46%–64% stability |