Dependency, detachment and psychopathology in a nonclinical sample: General relations and gender differences. Is there a new line of inquiry on paranoid pathology?

Abstract

In this study, both Bornstein's Relationship Profile Test (RPT) and Derogatis’ Symptom Ckeck List (SCL-90-R) were administered to a nonclinical sample of 119 subjects from Madrid (Spain). Healthy dependency, dysfunctional detachment and destructive overdependence (RPT subscales) were evaluated and correlated with SCL-90-R symptom dimensions. Destructive overdependence correlated positively with every SCL-90-R psychopathology dimension. On the contrary, healthy dependency correlated negatively with all these SCL-90-R dimensions. Gender differences were significant with regard to the correlation between dysfunctional detachment and paranoid ideation. In women dysfunctional detachment correlated positively with paranoid ideation, whereas in men the resultant correlation was negative and not significant. This gender difference in the relationship between dysfunctional detachment and paranoid ideation may suggest a new line of inquiry on paranoid pathology. Besides, the study explores the SCL-90-R psychopathology scores of several clusters of individuals with different profiles of dependency-detachment obtained from the RPT subscale scores.