title: Anxiety, depression, and dissociation in women health care providers reporting a history of childhood psychological abuse.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and adult manifestations of depression, anxiety, and dissociation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women health care professionals reporting a history of childhood psychological maltreatment (n = 55) were compared to a nonabused control group (n = 55) on the three dimensions of anxiety, depression, and dissociation. The Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, a measure constructed specifically for this study to assess abuse history, was used to determine group membership. Participants were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant discriminant function analysis using the STAI, BDI, and DES as predictor variables was able to correctly classify 74.5% of the psychologically abused participants and 89.1% of the nonabused group, with an overall hit rate of 81.8%. Statistically significant differences were obtained between the abused and nonabused groups on the STAI, BDI, and DES.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interpretation of these results suggests that participants who reported a history of childhood psychological abuse suffer significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety, and more frequent dissociative experiences, than the nonabused women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Dacey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016387:Women's Health