Interpersonal Dependency and Physical Illness: A Meta-Analytic Review of Retrospective and Prospective Studies

Meta-analysis of research on the dependency–illness relationship indicated that high levels of interpersonal dependency are associated with elevated rates of illness in retrospective studies (r= .31) and with increased risk for illness in prospective studies (r= .27). These effect sizes are larger than those obtained in most investigations of the personality–illness link involving other trait variables. The relationships of participant characteristics, illness category, dependency measure used, and illness index to observed dependency–illness effect sizes were also examined. Implications of these findings for theoretical models of the dependency–illness relationship are discussed, and possible mediating variables are considered.