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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2017, 19, N5 (pages: 55 - 62)

The Substance Abuser's Partner: Do Codependent Individuals Have Borderline and Dependent Personality Disorder?

Knapek É., Balázs K., and Kuritárné Szabó I.

Summary: Background: Little is known about the personality of codependents, despite the fact that it should be taken into consideration in the treatment of illicit drug users. Codependency has a strong positive correlation with borderline and with dependent personality disorder (BPD, DPD), which should be taken into account when trying to explain the relationships so far discovered between codependency and anamnestic data, together with psychopathological (e.g. child) abuse, depression, and insecure attachment. Aim: To identify whether ‘pure' codependent individuals exist. By ‘pure' codependency we mean the condition of codependent individuals without BPD and/or DPD. Methods: Our sample consisted of 131 codependents and 276 non-codependent individuals, as assessed by the Codependent Questionnaire; they were recruited in self-help groups and in the general population. Borderline and dependent traits were assessed by SCID-II. Results: According to our data, probably every 2nd codependent person meets the five criteria required for a BPD diagnosis in DSM-IV-TR, and every 7th codependent meets the criteria set out there for a DPD diagnosis. 31% of codependent individuals have borderline traits; in addition, 31% of codependents have dependent traits. On the other hand, 16% of codependent individuals seem to be classifiable as ‘pure' codependents. Conclusions: The overlap areas between codependency, BPD and DPD have significant treatment and research implications. Since ‘pure' codependents were identified by us, the codependency concept cannot be rejected.