Neediness and depression in women

Abstract

In a 6-month longitudinal design, the authors examined the links between neediness and increases in depressive symptoms in women. Neediness was assessed with the self-report Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), supplemented by a projective measure that assessed an important component of dependency, oral dependency, on the Rorschach. Results indicate that neediness correlated significantly with increases in depressive symptoms over the 6 months. Orality interacted with neediness to substantially increase the prediction of increases in depressive symptoms.