Emotional dependency

Abstract: Research indicates that economic dependency in women and emotional dependency in men independently contribute to domestic-partner abuse risk and that high levels of emotional dependency in an abused partner may reduce the likelihood that the victimized person will terminate the relationship. An analysis of psychological factors and social forces that contribute to domestic violence suggests that multimodal intervention strategies are needed to combat this complex problem.

Abstract: This study quantitatively examined reasons for substance use among individuals with psychotic disorders and explored the relationship of these reasons to substance use problems and dependence. Sixty-nine people with psychotic disorders were interviewed using a battery of questionnaires called the Substance Use Scale for Psychosis (SUSP). Symptoms and medication side effects were also measured. A factor analysis revealed similar motives for substance use (mostly alcohol and cannabis use) as in the general population: "enhancement," "social motives," "coping with unpleasant affect," and "conformity and acceptance." A fifth factor, "relief of positive symptoms and side effects," demonstrated limited reliability. "Coping" and "enhancement" motives were found to lead to substance use problems and dependence. Mediator analysis indicated that worse symptoms lead to stronger motives for substance use, which in turn lead to stronger psychological dependence on that substance. These findings have the potential to inform effective treatment for substance use in psychosis.

Abstract: Gender, gender role, and attachment style were used to predict emotional and instrumental dependency in a Basquestudent sample (N = 602). Psychometrically sound Spanish adaptations of English-language measures of dependency andattachment were created. As predicted, women were more emotionally and instrumentally dependent than men, but thesex differences were mediated by psychological masculinity and femininity. The anxious attachment dimension wascorrelated with emotional and instrumental dependency, the preoccupied rating with emotional dependency, and theavoidant attachment dimension and fearful rating with instrumental dependency. When the two attachment dimensionsand the two gender-role variables were combined to predict dependency, emotional dependency was a function ofanxious attachment and femininity; instrumental dependency was a function of anxious and avoidant attachment and lowmasculinity. Limitations and future directions are discussed. In the last 20 years there has been increasinginterest in the construct of interpersonaldependency, because of its importance forclose relationship dynamics and individualwell-being. Although some degree of depen-dency, especially during childhood, is normaland is a natural characteristic of highly socialanimals, there are also maladaptive forms ofdependency that deserve study because oftheir relevance for clinical assessment andtreatment. Excessive dependency is recog-nized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manualof Mental Disorders as a personality disorder(DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association,1994), and it has been linked with otherpersonality and clinical disorders (for areview, see Bornstein, 1995a). Even studiesof nonclinical samples reveal a high prev-alence of maladaptive dependency (Bartel,1995; Bornstein & Johnson, 1990), makingthis an especially important topic for furtherresearch.Birtchnell (1988) characterized the abnor-mally dependent person as one who consist-ently displays excessive dependency towardothers in ways that damage close relationshipsand threaten individual well-being. Subse-quently, the dependent personality disorder(DPD), as defined by the DSM-IV, became thestandard for therapists and researchers. DPDas defined by DSM-IV currently provides themost influential framework for the study ofpathological dependency.Although the goal of the DSM definitionand criteria was to denote a category ofindividuals needing treatment, many research-ers view personality disorders, including DPD,as ends of continua ranging from normalthrough mildly troubled to severely troubled(Livesley, 1987; Widiger & Sanderson, 1995).From this perspective, a positive diagnosis ofdependent personality disorder indicates ahigh degree of interpersonal dependency,479