Addressing the Overprotected Past of Dependent Personality Disorder

Abstract

Studies and research relevant to Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD) recently have shown controversy regarding whether genetic or external factors contributed more to the development of DPD. This review aims to investigate the relationship between parental overprotection and DPD from the perspectives of the specific effect of overprotective parenting styles on DPD, factors regarding overprotection in DPD, and relevant interventions for DPD. It was found that there was an association between overprotective parenting styles and the development of DPD symptoms. Factors related to overprotection, such as distress intolerance and sensitivity to falsehoods detected from facial expressions, have a relationship with DPD traits. Different psychotherapies have demonstrated their effectiveness. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), clarification-oriented psychotherapy (COP), existential group therapy, and cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) are effective to treat clients' DPD, targeting different symptoms. It is concluded that CBT can aid decision-making, self-confidence, and proper self-cognition. Furthermore, COP and existential group therapy can facilitate emotional and social adjustment. Lastly, CAT can improve identity recognition and reassurance-seeking. Regardless of these effectual treatments, the small sample sizes of previous studies may lower the generalizability. More efforts should be devoted to this field of personality disorder and expand the number of empirical research. The present paper may offer some guidelines for the later development of family intervention studies and programs.