Codependency Test

A codependency test screens for patterns of excessive emotional reliance, compulsive caregiving, people-pleasing, difficulty with boundaries, and loss of identity in relationships. Not a DSM-5-TR diagnosis but a widely recognized relationship dysfunction pattern, often linked to trauma and family dysfunction.

What the codependency test measures

Codependency describes a pattern of excessive psychological reliance on a partner, family member, or other person, often characterized by compulsive caregiving, difficulty setting boundaries, approval-seeking, low self-esteem tied to others' wellbeing, and a tendency to lose one's own identity in relationships. The concept emerged from the addiction treatment field in the 1980s, originally describing partners and family members of people with substance use disorders, and has since been broadened to describe relationship dysfunction across diverse contexts.

Codependency is not a formal DSM-5-TR or ICD-11 diagnosis. Some clinicians view it as a learned pattern rooted in childhood developmental trauma, particularly in families affected by substance abuse, emotional neglect, parental mental illness, or other chronic dysfunction. Individuals who grew up in these environments may have developed adaptive roles, caretaker, hero, people-pleaser, that functioned as survival strategies but create relationship difficulties in adulthood. Elements of codependency overlap significantly with anxious attachment style, dependent personality disorder, and complex PTSD.

The 10 items reflect patterns described in the clinical literature: excessive emotional reliance, compulsive caregiving, people-pleasing, difficulty with boundaries, and loss of identity in relationships.

How to administer the codependency test

Rate how often each statement describes your patterns in close relationships. This is an educational reflection tool, not a validated clinical tool. It is completed by the respondent, without clinician guidance, as a prompt for reflection or for discussion with a therapist.

This reflection tool is for educational purposes only and is not a validated clinical tool. If codependency patterns are affecting your relationships and wellbeing, a therapist specializing in relational trauma or attachment can be very helpful.

Codependency test scoring and interpretation

This reflection tool has no published cutoff scores, so results are not sorted into severity bands. Higher ratings simply indicate that more of the listed patterns feel familiar. Use the pattern descriptions below to guide reflection, and interpret results alongside the broader clinical picture.

Core Codependency Patterns

Based on clinical literature including Beattie (1986), Whitfield (1987), and the CoDA fellowship. Individual patterns vary, not all are present in every person with codependency.

Codependency vs Related Concepts

Recovery focuses on developing a stable, autonomous sense of self and learning to meet your own needs directly. Key skills include: boundary setting (saying no without excessive guilt), identifying your own needs and emotions (separate from others'), self-care practice, and communication skills. Therapy approaches with strong evidence include Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), Schema Therapy for abandonment and subjugation schemas, and DBT for emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness.

Psychometric properties

This 10-item reflection tool has not itself been psychometrically validated. Published codependency measures offer some reference points:

• Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale (SFCS): In 95 undergraduates, the SFCS, the Co-Dependents Anonymous Checklist and a third codependency questionnaire were strongly related, supporting the SFCS's convergent validity (Lindley et al., 1999).
• Holyoake Codependency Index (HCI): A 13-item version with three subscales (external focus, self-sacrifice, reactivity) showed internal consistency of .74 to .84 in a family counselling client sample and .73 to .83 in a community sample of 303 women, with a replicated factor structure (Dear & Roberts, 2000).

Limitations

• Not validated and not a diagnosis. Codependency is not a DSM-5-TR or ICD-11 diagnosis, and this tool has no published norms or cutoffs.
• Contested construct. A 2026 integrative review describes co-dependency as conceptually fragmented, with six different conceptual perspectives in the literature (Molina et al., 2026).
• Self-report. Ratings reflect how respondents see their own relationships and can be influenced by mood and context.
• Overlap with other constructs. Features overlap with anxious attachment, dependent personality traits and complex PTSD, which need clinical assessment.

Recovery and support

Recovery from codependency typically involves individual therapy focused on identifying and meeting one's own needs, developing healthy self-concept independent of others, learning boundary-setting skills, and processing underlying trauma or attachment wounds. Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA), modeled on the 12-step model, is a widely available peer support resource. Research consistently shows that codependency patterns can meaningfully improve with dedicated therapeutic work.

Behavioural Health Outcome Monitoring

PHQ-9, GAD-7, and relational health outcomes, integrated monitoring for behavioural health and relationship therapy programs.