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.
Department of Psychology, University of New England, Armidale NSW, Australia.
H J
HJ
Irwin
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000453:epidemiology; D002657:Child Development; D015897:Comorbidity; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011336:Probability; D012044:Regression Analysis