A review of dissociative disorders treatment studies.
This review examines empirical reports of treatment for Dissociative Disorders (DD), including 16 DD treatment outcome studies and 4 case studies that used standardized measures. Collectively, these reports suggest that treatment for DD is associated with decreased symptoms of dissociation, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, distress, and suicidality. Effect sizes, based on pre/post measures, are in the medium to large range across studies. Patients with dissociative disorder who integrated their dissociated self states were found to have reduced symptomatology compared with those who did not integrate. The magnitude of pre/post effect sizes for these DD studies are comparable to pre/post effect sizes in treatment studies of complex PTSD. There are significant methodological limitations in the current DD treatment outcome literature that reduce internal and external validity including regression towards the mean, limited sample sizes, and nonrandomized research designs. Implications for future research and treatment planning for patients suffering from DD are discussed.
Brand
Bethany L
BL
Department of Psychology, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA. bbrand@towson.edu
Classen
Catherine C
CC
McNary
Scot W
SW
Zaveri
Parin
P
D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs