Dissociation in undergraduate students: disruptions in executive functioning.
The concept of dissociation refers to disruptions in attentional control. Attentional control is an executive function. Few studies have addressed the link between dissociation and executive functioning. Our study investigated this relationship in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 185) who completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Random Number Generation Task. We found that minor disruptions in executive functioning were related to a subclass of dissociative experiences, notably dissociative amnesia and the Dissociative Experiences Scale Taxon. However, the two other subscales of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, measuring depersonalization and absorption, were unrelated to executive functioning. Our findings suggest that a failure to inhibit previous responses might contribute to the pathological memory manifestations of dissociation.
Giesbrecht
Timo
T
Department of Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Merckelbach
Harald
H
Geraerts
Elke
E
Smeets
Ellen
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000647:Amnesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003861:Depersonalization / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology