Three Dimensions of Dissociative Amnesia

Abstract

Principal axis factor analysis with promax rotation extracted 3 factors from the 42 memory and amnesia items of the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation (MID) database (N = 2,569): Discovering Dissociated Actions, Lapses of Recent Memory and Skills, and Gaps in Remote Memory. The 3 factors' shared variance ranged from 36% to 64%. Construed as scales, the 3 factor scales had Cronbach's alpha coefficients of .96, .94, and .93, respectively. The scales correlated strongly with mean Dissociative Experiences Scale scores, mean MID scores, and total scores on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Dissociative Disorders–Revised (SCID-D-R). What is interesting is that the 3 amnesia factors exhibited a range of correlations with SCID-D-R Amnesia scores (.52, .63, and .70, respectively), suggesting that the SCID-D-R Amnesia score emphasizes gaps in remote memory over amnesias related to dissociative identity disorder. The 3 amnesia factor scales exhibited a clinically meaningful pattern of significant differences among dissociative identity disorder, dissociative disorder not otherwise specified–1, dissociative amnesia, depersonalization disorder, and nonclinical participants. The 3 amnesia factors may have greater clinical utility for frontline clinicians than (a) amnesia as discussed in the context of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, nosology of the dissociative disorders or (b) P. Janet's (1893/1977) 4-fold classification of dissociative amnesia. The author recommends systematic study of the phenomenological differences within specific dissociative symptoms and their differential relationship to specific dissociative disorders.