ABSTRACT
During the past 50 years, there have been more than 600 published studies of trait dependency and dependent personality disorder (DPD). Research in both areas has been—and continues to be—strongly influenced by psychoanalytic theory, particularly object relations models of personality and psychopathology (Bornstein, 1993, 2005). Despite their shared psychodynamic roots, however, the constructs of trait dependency andDPDhave diverged somewhat in recent years. Contemporary research on trait dependency has focused on the variability in dependent behavior across different situations and settings (Pincus & Wilson, 2001), and on identifying adaptive and maladaptive features of dependent personality traits (Bornstein & Languirand, 2003). Research on DPD has taken a very different route, with most studies in this area assessing the comorbidity of DPD with other Axis I and Axis II disorders or the moderating effects ofDPDon psychotherapy process and outcome (Bornstein, 1997).
