(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation, 1989-03) Sanders, Barbara; McRoberts, Gerald; Tollefson, Christine
Two studies are reported demonstrating that individual differences in dissociation in college students are positively related to differences in self-reported stressful or traumatic experiences in youth. In Study I differences in the degree of stress or unpredictable physical violence experienced in childhood or early adolescence were shown to be related to scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Study II replicated these relationships and extended them to another dissociation measure, the Bliss scale. Study II also demonstrated that both dissociation measures correlate positively with reported physical and psychological abuse. These findings for a nonclinical population are discussed in relation to the etiology of dissociation in clinical groups.
