Deconstructing the relationships between self-esteem and paranoia in early psychosis: an experience sampling study.

Different measures (trait and momentary) and dimensions (positive and negative) of explicit self-esteem are distinctly related to paranoia across risk and first-episode stages of psychosis. Explicit, but not implicit, self-esteem is associated with real-life paranoia in incipient psychosis. Anxiety boosted the association of poor self-esteem and paranoia ideation in daily-life. Social closeness, but feeling cared for by others in particular, interacts with self-esteem tempering the expression of paranoia in real life.