Psychology graduate student Andrew McClintock received the Elsie Ramos First Author Student Poster Award at the annual conference of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) in Chicago in November.
McClintock’s adviser, Dr. Timothy Anderson, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-authored the poster on “Mindfulness-Based Treatment for Maladaptive Interpersonal Dependency: A Randomized Controlled Trial With College Students.”
Andrew McClintock
Abstract Body: Existing treatments for maladaptive interpersonal dependency and dependent personality disorder do not meet basic scientific standards for effectiveness. The present investigation tested the efficacy of a mindfulness-based approach: mindfulness therapy for maladaptive interpersonal dependency (MT-MID). Forty-eight participants who reported consistently high levels of maladaptive dependency were randomized to either five sessions of MT-MID or a minimal contact control. Five self-reported outcomes (mindfulness, maladaptive interpersonal dependency, helplessness, fears of negative evaluation, and excessive reassurance-seeking) were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and a 4-week follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that MT-MID yielded greater improvements than the control on all five outcomes at post-treatment (median d=1.61) and follow-up (median d=1.51). Participants assigned to MT-MID were more likely than control participants to meet criteria for clinically significant change at post-treatment (56.5% vs. 0%) and follow-up (42.9% vs. 0%). There was also evidence that increases in mindfulness mediated the dependency-related improvements. These results provide preliminary support for the efficacy of a mindfulness-based approach for treating the symptoms of maladaptive dependency.
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