Psychoform and Somatoform Dissociation and PTSD in Deaf Adults

Abstract

Both deafness and dissociation disconnect people from certain aspects of the external environment. Dissociation among the deaf population has been largely neglected as an area of scientific investigation. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to examine the psychometrics of 2 dissociation measures—the Dissociation scale of the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) and the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire–20 (SDQ-20); and second, to evaluate the relationship between dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in deaf adults. A diverse sample of 79 deaf adults was assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, the TSI, and the SDQ-20. Results provided support for the concept of psychoform dissociation, as measured by the TSI Dissociation scale, in deaf adults. However, somatoform dissociation, as measured by the SDQ-20, showed lower internal consistency. The SDQ-5, a shortened version of the SDQ-20, was unreliable in the current sample. Deaf adults were significantly higher on psychoform dissociation than the norm samples of hearing adults. As in hearing samples, dissociation—both psychoform and somatoform—was significantly related to PTSD symptoms. In addition, those with dissociative PTSD displayed significantly more symptoms of depression, anger, impaired self-reference, tension reduction behavior, and somatoform dissociation than did the nondissociative PTSD group.