title: The expectancy of threat and peritraumatic dissociation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peritraumatic dissociation is one of the most critical acute responses to a traumatic experience, partly because it predicts subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder. Despite this, there is little understanding about the factors that influence peritraumatic dissociation. This study investigated the extent to which peritraumatic dissociation is predicted by the amount of perceived warning that participants had of the impact of the trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized eligible admissions to four major trauma hospitals (N=243) were assessed during hospital admission with the Peritraumatic Dissociation Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ) and the perceived warning that participants had before the trauma impact occurred.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Whereas female gender predicted both Awareness and Derealization subscale scores on the PDEQ, perceived warning also predicted scores on the Derealization subscale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This finding suggests that the degree of anticipated threat may contribute to peritraumatic dissociation.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Derrick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Silove
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Creamer
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Meaghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Alexander C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: McFarlane
keywords: Derealization; dissociation; peritraumatic; trauma