Dissociative disorders and traumatic childhood experiences in transsexuals.
In this first prevalence study of dissociative symptoms and different forms of childhood experiences among transsexuals, 41 transsexuals and 115 psychiatric inpatients were compared by means of the Interview for Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D-R), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The total score for the dissociative symptoms revealed no significant differences between the transsexuals and the psychiatric inpatients. However, the higher DES score among transsexuals compared with a normal population was found to be due largely to one item. A surprisingly high prevalence of emotional maltreatment was recorded. The results suggest that both the DES and the SCID-D-R have limited validity as instruments for screening and diagnosing dissociative disorders in transsexuals. Psychiatrists should be mindful of the possible existence of dissociative disorders in transsexual patients. Further investigations are needed to clarify the effects of traumatic childhood experiences on sexual identity in transsexuals and to throw more light on the phenomenological correlation between transsexualism and dissociative identity, using taxometric analyses.
Kersting
Anette
A
Department of Psychiatry, University of Muenster, D-48129 Muenster, Germany.
Reutemann
Michael
M
Gast
Ursula
U
Ohrmann
Patricia
P
Suslow
Thomas
T
Michael
Nikolaus
N
Arolt
Volker
V
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015897:Comorbidity; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014189:Transsexualism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology