Citation

Lipschitz DS, Kaplan ML, Sorkenn J, Chorney P, Asnis GM. Compr. Psychiatry 1996; 37(4): 261-266.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8826690

Abstract

Recent studies have suggested an association between childhood physical and sexual abuse and adult dissociative experiences. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of both childhood and adult-onset abuse and their characteristics for adult dissociative symptoms. One hundred forty-four psychiatric outpatients completed self-report questionnaires on measures of dissociation (Dissociative Experience Scale DES.) and histories of both past and current sexual and physical abuse (Traumatic Events Questionnaire TEQ.). Of 114 subjects (30 men and 84 women) who completed both forms, 35% and 43% reported childhood physical and sexual abuse, respectively. Dissociative symptoms were significantly related to ethnicity and multiple episodes or combined types of abuse in childhood and adulthood. In terms of the characteristics of childhood abuse, numerous episodes of physical abuse (P = .01) and father-perpetrated sexual abuse (P = .02) were significantly related to the degree of dissociation. These findings emphasize the role of repeated childhood trauma and the combination of both childhood and adult traumatic experiences in the development of dissociative phenomena.

Language: en