TABLE 3.

Themes of financial burden and representative text examples as reported by partners and family members in a close relationship with an individual with pathological narcissism

Theme	Text example
Debt	‘We always had money problems and debts but to the outside world we appeared very well… Money was always borrowed or credit cards. He had a bad gambling problem where we lost everything’ [#246] ‘He has been in bankruptcy because he does not pay bills, he does not pay people that do work for him’ [#860] ‘He is currently bankrupt, owes huge tax debts and child support arrears’ [#1119]
Stealing	‘He used my computer… to transfer $66,500 from my account’ [#122] ‘[Stole] $25,000… from the joint account’ [#1476] ‘He cheated on taxes and we owed $40,000’ [#1727]
Controlling	‘He controlled everything. … I had to justify every penny spent but he was able to spend what he wanted when he wanted’ [#1689] ‘He was extremely controlling. Controlled finances, made all the financial decisions’ [#1316] ‘I never knew where all the money went. He had nothing to show for it and would not discuss it with me… He lied to me about how much money we had and did not pay our bills. Eviction notices piled up’ [#1891]
Dependent	‘He does not have a job and expects me to pay for everything’ [#1211] ‘He is financially dependent on whichever woman he is with at the time’ [#1009]
Irresponsible	‘No self‐control with money. Refuses to live on a budget’ [#1944] ‘Believes he deserves the best of everything and will spend money on fancy cars and trips instead of paying bills or buying groceries’ [#788]