title: Dependent personality disorder: a critical review.
abstract: Dependent personality disorder (DPD) has evolved from an abstract idea rooted in a historic and psychoanalytic context to a codified diagnosis in the DSM-IV-TR. This comprehensive review paper chronicles the evolution of DPD through each version of the DSM. Major topics relevant to the disorder are also investigated, including gender and cultural considerations, stability and manifestations of DPD across different developmental stages, comorbidity issues, and others. The purpose of this review is to provide a broad yet comprehensive examination of the complex angles of maladaptive dependency and to identify essential next steps in furthering our knowledge of this disorder. The paper concludes with a discussion of shortcomings in the body of research relevant to DPD, along with specific suggestions for improvement in this field of study.
authors.affiliation: Washington University in Saint Louis, Department of Psychology, 1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1100, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USA. Electronic address: kldisney@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Krystle L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Disney
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D003859:Dependent Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Dependency; Dependent personality disorder; Personality disorders