Do Dependency and Social Skills Combine to Predict Depression? Linking Two Diatheses in Mood Disorders Research

Author(s): Steven K. Huprich, Carolina Clancy, Robert F. Bornstein, Rosemery O. Nelson-Gray

DOI: https://doi.org/10.65030/idr.02001

Abstract: This study tested the hypothesis that an individual's level of social skills moderates the relationship between level of interpersonal dependency and risk for depression. Using a mixed-gender sample of undergraduates (N = 141), we found that the combination of trait dependency scores and scores on certain dimensions of social skills accounted for significantly more variance in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores than did trait dependency scores alone. When SCID-II dependent personality disorder symptoms were examined in lieu of trait dependency levels, observed relationships among social skills, dependency, and depression also increased. Statistically significant moderation effects were detected for the interaction of SCID II dependent personality scores and two components of social skills.

Keywords: Interpersonal dependency; Social skills; Depression; Personality disorders; Dependent personality disorder; Moderation; Undergraduate students

Pages: 2-16

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