Predictor Of Dissociation Research Articles

Psychotic experiences and dissociation in adolescents: Within-person analysis in the Tokyo teen cohort

Although many cross-sectional studies showed that psychotic experiences (PEs) and dissociation were closely related, the longitudinal association between them remains unknown. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine the longitudinal association of these two symptoms throughout adolescence, under the hypothesis that these two symptoms are bidirectionally associated.Data were obtained from a population-based cohort, the Tokyo Teen Cohort study (TTC; N = 3171). PEs and dissociation were assessed at 10, 12, 14, and 16 years of age. PEs were assessed using a total score from five-item self-report questionnaires derived from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-C). Dissociation was assessed using subscale scores of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) completed by primary caregivers. We examined the longitudinal relationship between PEs and dissociation using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM).The within-person component of the RI-CLPM revealed no significant cross-lagged effect of dissociation on PEs at any time point. On the other hand, there was a significant (p < 0.05) association between PEs at age 14 and dissociation at age 16 (β = 0.106, 95 % CI 0.047–0.165). The between-person component revealed a significant time-invariant relationship between the two symptoms (β = 0.324, 95 % CI 0.239–0.410).The longitudinal relationship between PEs and dissociation was limited at the within-person level, whereas the between-person correlation was significant. The only significant longitudinal pathway was from PEs to dissociation, suggesting that PEs may be a predictor of dissociation in mid-adolescence.

Parent-child dynamics as predictors of dissociation in adulthood

This Australian study examined 310 respondents’ retrospective reports about the quality of their relationship with their caregivers during their childhood to identify the dynamics that predict clinical levels of dissociation in adulthood. The sample comprised 277 university participants and 32 inpatients and outpatients receiving treatment for a dissociative disorder. The authors developed the 32-item parent-child dynamics questionnaire (PCD-Q) to understand and identify aspects of the relational dynamics and home environment that give rise to dissociation. The PCD-Q demonstrated excellent internal reliability and effectively differentiated between groups with different levels of dissociation. For females in the university sample, parent-child dynamics were clearly positive for 186 non-dissociative controls, mildly positive for the 27 individuals with elevated levels of dissociation consistent with a dissociative disorder or PTSD, and mildly negative for the 26 with clinical levels of dissociation, whereas the 30 females in the clinical group experienced clearly negative dynamics. The PCD-Q demonstrated protective factors from dissociation as parental care, being able to seek comfort, and developing self-esteem and self-worth; experiences of safety (absence of unpredictable parental behaviour, powerlessness and control, unfairness, secrecy, isolation, and dysfunction), and feeling seen and being supported on the road to independence. Nineteen items (59%) had large effect sizes, and 11 items (34%) had medium effect sizes. In males, despite the small sample, significant differences were found between the 34 controls and 12 dissociators for half the PCD-Q items. The findings suggest parent-child dynamics may be equally as influential as trauma in the aetiology of dissociation.

Temporal Stability of Dissociative Symptoms in the General Population.

The most widely used measure to quantify dissociative symptoms is the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). However, little information is available concerning its temporal stability. The purpose of this study was to assess the stability of DES scores after 4 years. A total of 316 respondents recruited from a general population in Brazil took part in baseline and follow-up (70.57% were men; mean age = 32.97, SD = 10.95, minimum = 22, maximum = 74). Temporal stability was assessed through test-retest correlations and mean-level stability analyses. We found that the DES total and subscale scores revealed moderate test-retest correlations, with small variations among the DES factors. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between average scores for times 1 and 2. Overall, DES scores are significantly stable over time. Future studies would benefit from an investigation of the correlates and predictors of dissociation at different time points.

Childhood Sexual, Emotional, and Physical Abuse as Predictors of Dissociation in Adulthood

ABSTRACT This Australian study explores a person’s self-reported exposure to childhood abuse to identify the characteristics that are predictive of clinical levels of dissociation in adulthood. The final sample comprised 303 participants, including 26 inpatients and outpatients (24 females and two males) receiving treatment for a dissociative disorder (DD), and 277 university participants, including 220 controls (186 females, 34 males), 31 with elevated levels of dissociation consistent with a DD or posttraumatic stress disorder (27 females and four males), and 26 with clinical levels of dissociation (20 females and six males). The findings demonstrate clinical levels of dissociation and DDs occur in individuals reporting a history of childhood abuse, particularly sexual abuse and experiences that are potentially life-threatening to a child, such as choking, smothering, and physical injury that breaks bones or teeth, or that compromise the child’s survival needs, including threats of abandonment and deprivation of basic needs. Females who disclosed being sexual abused in addition to being choked or smothered had a 106-fold risk of clinical levels of dissociation. As expected, self-reported amnesia was prevalent in the dissociative groups. Yet, even in the control group, one-third of those disclosing sexual abuse reported an unclear memory of it. Strong similarities in abuse experiences were found between the clinical sample and those in the university sample with clinical levels of dissociation (which is unlikely to have previously been diagnosed). The dissociative groups reported higher rates of corroboration of their abusive experiences. The findings support the traumatic etiology of dissociation.

Quality of Early Care and Childhood Trauma

Kihlstrom (2005) has recently called attention to the need for prospective longitudinal studies of dissociation. The present study assesses quality of early care and childhood trauma as predictors of dissociation in a sample of 56 low-income young adults followed from infancy to age 19. Dissociation was assessed with the Dissociative Experiences Scale; quality of early care was assessed by observer ratings of mother-infant interaction at home and in the laboratory; and childhood trauma was indexed by state-documented maltreatment, self-report, and interviewer ratings of participants' narratives. Regression analysis indicated that dissociation in young adulthood was significantly predicted by observed lack of parental responsiveness in infancy, while childhood verbal abuse was the only type of trauma that added to the prediction of dissociation. Implications are discussed in the context of previous prospective work also pointing to the important contribution of parental emotional unresponsiveness in the development of dissociation.

Attitudinal Predictors of Dissociation: Hostility and Powerlessness

The relationship between dissociative tendencies and attitudes relating to aggression and powerlessness was investigated in a sample of 106 Australian psychology students. Dissociation was positively related to aspects of aggression and in particular to an attitude of hostility. Respondents' perceptions of their own powerlessness did not predict proneness to dissociative experiences. The data are consistent with the view that trauma-engendered attitudes and affects may be markers of the development of dissociative tendencies.

Affective predictors of dissociation II: Shame and guilt

Affective predictors of dissociation II: Shame and guilt

Religious Ritual and Dissociation in India and Australia

The Religious Ritual Scale (RRS; Maranell, 1974) and the Questionnaire of Experiences of Dissociation (QED; Riley, 1988) were administered to 402 Indian and 263 Australian university students. The Indian students had significantly higher QED scores than the Australians. The Australian men had significantly higher QED scores than Australian women, but no sex differences on dissociation were found for the Indian participants. Indians scored significantly higher than Australians on the RRS. Indian women had higher RRS scores than their male counterparts, but Australian men and women did not differ on the RRS. A modest but statistically significant positive correlation was found between religious ritual practice and dissociation. Regression analysis showed religious ritual to be a significant predictor of dissociation. Results are discussed in relation to dissociation theory and cultural factors that influence dissociative experience.

Proneness to dissociation and traumatic childhood events.

Several researchers have proposed that proneness to dissociation in adulthood is linked developmentally with experiences of traumatic events in childhood. Past investigation of this hypothesis, however, typically has focused on very narrow samples of childhood trauma. In this study, dissociative experiences in adulthood were analyzed in relation to a broad measure of childhood trauma. Standard regression analysis revealed three predictors of dissociation, namely familial loss in childhood, intrafamilial sexual abuse, and extrafamilial sexual abuse. The data call for greater cognizance of childhood loss in the investigation of the origins of dissociative defenses.