Co-dependency: An empirical study from a systemic perspective

To empirically investigate the construct validity of codependency, differences between
young adults who scored in the high, medium and low ranges on a measure of
codependency on theoretically relevant variables were examined. Compared with
individuals who scored low on codependency, those who obtained high scores reported
significantly more family of origin difficulties and parental mental health problems;
problematic intimate relationships including relationships with chemically dependent
partners; and personal psychological problems including compulsivity. However, contrary
to prevailing theoretical predictions the high codependency group did not contain more
females or individuals whose parents had alcohol or drug abuse problems, nor was there a
higher level of childhood physical or sexual abuse in the high codependency group. These
results suggest that co-dependency is one aspect of wider multigenerational family
systems problems which are not unique to families where drug and alcohol abuse or
physical and sexual abuse are major concerns.