title: Dissociative Experiences and Psychopathology Among Inmates in Italian and Portuguese Prisons.
abstract: The association between dissociation and psychopathological symptoms is well established, yet studies with inmates are lacking. If higher rates of dissociation and psychiatric symptoms are reported in inmate samples, it is not clear whether they represent two separate, albeit related, characteristics. We examined the association between dissociation and psychopathological symptoms among 320 Italian subjects (122 inmates and 198 community participants) and a Portuguese inmate sample ( n = 67). Then, we tested whether dissociation and psychopathology levels were higher among inmates. Both hypotheses were supported, confirming the relevance of dissociative, paranoid, and psychotic symptoms among inmates, as well as their interrelations. Notably, the group difference in dissociation remained significant after partialing out the variance associated with other psychopathological symptoms. Conversely, only the difference in paranoid symptoms remained-marginally-significant when controlling for the influence of dissociation. This finding suggests that dissociation may have unique relevance for the psychological functioning of inmates.
authors.affiliation: 1 Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio Cesare
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Zavattini
authors.affiliation: 1 Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.|2 Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garofalo
authors.affiliation: 3 University of Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Velotti
authors.affiliation: 4 University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tommasi
authors.affiliation: 4 University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romanelli
authors.affiliation: 5 Miguel Torga Institute, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Helena Espírito
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Santo
authors.affiliation: 5 Miguel Torga Institute, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: 4 University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: Aristide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saggino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Italy; Portugal; dissociation; inmates; psychopathology