Hypnotizability in acute stress disorder.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the relationship between acute dissociative reactions to trauma and hypnotizability.


METHODS
Acutely traumatized patients (N=61) with acute stress disorder, subclinical acute stress disorder (no dissociative symptoms), and no acute stress disorder were administered the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale within 4 weeks of their trauma.


RESULTS
Although patients with acute stress disorder and patients with subclinical acute stress disorder displayed comparable levels of nondissociative psychopathology, acute stress disorder patients had higher levels of hypnotizability and were more likely to display reversible posthypnotic amnesia than both patients with subclinical acute stress disorder and patients with no acute stress disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings may be interpreted in light of a diathesis-stress process mediating trauma-related dissociation. People who develop acute stress disorder in response to traumatic experience may have a stronger ability to experience dissociative phenomena than people who develop subclinical acute stress disorder or no acute stress disorder.
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 Australia. r.bryant@unsw.edu.au
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Bryant
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RM
Guthrie
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Moulds
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015897:Comorbidity; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology