The dimensionality of dependent personality disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Personality Disorders

Background:

• The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for dependent personality disorder (DPD) suggest a division into dependent and attachment behaviors.
• The clinical relevance and empirical validation of this proposed division require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the relevance of dividing dependent personality disorder (DPD) criteria into dependent and attachment behaviors.
• To explore the factor structure of DPD criteria and its relationship with other personality disorders and early maladaptive schemas.

Main Methods:

• Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was employed on items from frequent personality diagnoses in a sample of 182 psychiatric patients.
• The study analyzed the loading of DPD criteria onto identified components and examined correlations with Early Maladaptive Schemas.

Main Results:

• PCA revealed six components, with DPD items forming two distinct factors: attachment/abandonment and dependency/incompetence.
• Criteria for borderline personality disorder loaded onto the attachment/abandonment component, while avoidant personality disorder criteria loaded onto the dependency/incompetence component.
• Early Maladaptive Schemas of abandonment and failure showed stronger correlations with the attachment/abandonment component compared to the dependency/incompetence component.

Conclusions:

• The findings support a two-component structure for dependent personality disorder (DPD) criteria: attachment/abandonment and dependency/incompetence.
• This structure has implications for understanding the overlap between DPD, borderline personality disorder, and avoidant personality disorder.
• The results suggest that specific Early Maladaptive Schemas are differentially associated with these DPD components, informing therapeutic approaches.