Comorbidity of dependent personality disorder and other psychological disorders: An integrative review

A review of the empirical literature examining the comorbidity of dependent personality disorder (DPD) and other psychological disorders indicated that DPD shows high rates of comorbidity with eating disorders, anxiety disorders, somatization disorder, and the majority of DSM-III-R Axis II personality disorders (i.e., schizoid, avoidant; schizotypal, borderline, histrionic, passive-aggressive and self-defeating). However, DPD showed only moderate overlap with dysthymia and major depression, and showed virtually no overlap with substance use disorders. These findings offer mixed support for the assertions of the DSM-III-R regarding the comorbidity of DPD and other Axis I and Axis II disorders. In general, studies that used categorical approaches to assessing DPD comorbidity obtained lower comorbidity rates than studies that used dimensional analysis. The diagnostic, methodological, and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.