Freyd, Jennifer J.

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/992

This collection contains some of the work being carried out by Jennifer J. Freyd, Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon.

1227 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1227

Lab: (541) 346-4950

Fax: (541) 346-4911

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Open Access
Abuse Awareness: Physical and Psychological Health Consequences
(2006-11) Goldsmith, R.E.; Freyd, Jennifer J.; DePrince, Anne P.
Despite established links between child abuse and psychological symptoms such as depression, dissociation, and anxiety, many abuse survivors experience awareness of specific abuse instances or abuse-related symptoms without acknowledging the abuse itself. The current study examines relations among abuse awareness, physical symptoms, and emotional functioning in young adults. One hundred eighty-five university students responded to questions regarding perceptions of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as standard abuse and symptom measures. Ninety-six individuals completed the questionnaire a second time 1-2 years later. At baseline, labeling oneself as having been abused was not correlated with depression, anxiety, dissociation, or physical health complaints. At follow-up, however, labeling abuse was significantly positively related to depression, anxiety, physical health complaints, and the number of reported visits to a health professional, even after controlling for abuse severity. These results indicate that processes involved in abuse perception appear to be connected to individuals' psychological and physical functioning, and that abuse awareness may have important clinical implications.
Open Access
Adult trauma and adult symptoms: Does childhood trauma drive the relationship?
(2006-11) Klest, Bridget K. (Bridget Kristen); Allard, Carolyn B. (Carolyn Brigitte), 1968-; Freyd, Jennifer J.
We used structural modeling to examine observed relationships between childhood trauma, adult trauma, and adult dissociation and mental health. We propose a model in which childhood betrayal trauma predicts adult betrayal trauma and dissociation, and dissociation predicts mental health. Paths between adult betrayal trauma and dissociation, and adult betrayal trauma and mental health were set at zero. This model was tested using questionnaire data from 307 undergraduates. The model fit the data very well (comparative fit index = .98, chi-square(df = 8) = 21.99), and performed as well as other less parsimonious models. Alternative equivalent models and implications of these findings are discussed. The pattern of parameter estimates generated for this model suggests that childhood trauma drives the relationship between trauma and symptoms.
Open Access
Are All Traumatic Events Equal? Further Research Using the BBTS
(2005-11) Allard, Carolyn B. (Carolyn Brigitte), 1968-; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Goldberg, Lewis R. (Lewis Robert), 1932-
The Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey (BBTS; Goldberg & Freyd, 2004) assesses potentially traumatic childhood and adulthood experiences, which can be categorized as high in betrayal (HB) or low in betrayal (LB) depending on whether the perpetrator was close or not close to the respondent. Previous research has provided support for betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1996) in revealing that, while LB predicts psychological distress in adulthood, HB traumas explain significantly more of the predictive variance. In the present study, changes in the BBTS were introduced in an effort to increase its interpretability and validity, and further tests of betrayal trauma theory are being conducted. Our preliminary findings are consistent with previous research in that HB events significantly predict higher levels of dissociation, depression, and anxiety symptoms than do LB events. In our sample of young adults, childhood HB events alone, and not events experienced in adulthood, predict increased symptomatology. Furthermore, those childhood HB events that were directly experienced explain the most variance, whereas those that were witnessed or heard about do not contribute to the predictive associations. These findings have implications for conceptualizations of traumas, their sequelae, and their treatment.
Open Access
Believability Bias in Judging Memories for Abuse
(2004-11) Cromer, Lisa D.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Participants (N=337) were presented with four vignettes in which an adult confided to a friend about being sexually or physically abused at age 9 by either a stranger or father. The memory was presented as either continuous or recovered. Participants judged report believability, memory accuracy, and rated each incident on a scale of 0=not abuse to 5=definitely abuse. Analyses were conducted using a 2(continuous or recovered memory) x 2 (victim sex) x 2 (physical or sexual abuse) x 2 (stranger or close perpetrator) repeated measures ANOVA. Participants completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Bernstein & Putnam, 1986), Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996), and Brief Betrayal Trauma Inventory (BBTS; Goldberg & Freyd, 2003). The believability bias hypothesis was supported. Continuous memory was believed more (p<.0001) and rated more accurate (p<.0001) than recovered memory, and male victims were believed more than female victims (p=.05). Level of dissociation was positively correlated with likelihood to label "being made to have sex with" or "being beaten with a belt" as abuse (p<.01), and level of sexism was negatively correlated with labeling these actions as abuse (p<.02). Implications are discussed in relation to biased and unscientific public opinion about memory for abuse.
Open Access
Betrayal Trauma, Acculturation and Historical Grief Among Native Americans
(2005-11) Gray, Mary E.; Cromer, Lisa D.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Since European contact, Native Americans have experienced loss of life, land, and culture causing intergenerational trauma and unresolved grief (Yellow Horse Brave Heart & DeBruyn, 1998). Not surprisingly, identification with Native American heritage has been found to be affected by the individual's level of acculturation, or resistance to, dominant white culture, as well as ownership of traditional customs and beliefs (Garrett & Pichette, 2000). Acculturation studies in the extant literature report ways to measure acculturation and discuss the relationship between acculturation and psychological health. They do not however, examine the relationship of acculturation to intergenerational trauma. The current research documents prevalence rates of historical grief and betrayal trauma to better understand how these relate to acculturation. Native Americans in Oregon (N=45) participated in the study. Participants completed the Historical Losses Scale (Whitbeck et al., 2004), Native American Acculturation Scale (Garrett & Pichette, 2000) and the Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey (Goldberg & Freyd, under review). As predicted betrayal trauma is negatively correlated to acculturation r = .27, p <.05, meaning that Native Americans who are less acculturated to dominant white culture experience more trauma. Results are discussed in relation to historical losses and Native American diversity.
Open Access
Child Abuse: Betrayal and Disclosure
(2006-11) Foynes, M. Ming; Freyd, Jennifer J.; DePrince, Anne P.
The present study examined the association between perpetrator relationship and disclosure latency (DL) for physical and emotional abuse using a survey methodology with a sample of 202 undergraduate participants. Based on Freyd's Betrayal Trauma Theory (1996), we predicted that abuse by a close perpetrator would be related to longer DL, because nondisclosure may serve as a protective coping mechanism in the same way as unawareness of abuse. BTT frames disclosure as a risk that poses a threat to the emotional needs of the child, without requiring the child's conscious awareness of the way in which the world operates. We found that closeness of perpetrator significantly predicts DL above and beyond other variables such as age at abuse onset, gender of survivor and abuse severity. Abuse by very close perpetrators was associated with a greater likelihood of first disclosure years following abuse, if disclosure ever occurred. While delayed disclosure may allow the attachment relationship to be sustained, it may also prolong abuse and prevent receipt of emotional, legal, or financial support. Since disclosure may result in the loss of important social relationships, it is important to address these risks in interventions geared toward encouraging disclosure to promote ethical intervention delivery.
Open Access
Child Sex Abuse Perpetrators Among Male University Students
(2006-11) Becker-Blease, Kathryn; Friend, Daniel; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Previous studies indicate that approximately 21% of undergraduate men report attraction to “little children”, 4 – 9 % report having fantasies about sex with a child, and 5 – 6% report masturbating to these fantasies. Between 3 and 7% report some likelihood of having sex with a child if there was no chance they would be caught (Briere & Runtz, 1989; Smiljanich & Briere, 1996). Understanding potential for perpetration among young adult men is important for prevention, but research on perpetration in non-convicted samples is limited. We asked 531 undergraduate men about their experiences with abuse as a child, as well as perpetration of child sexual abuse. Approximately 18% report fantasies about child sexual abuse and 8% have masturbated to these fantasies. Four percent indicate some likelihood that they would have sex with a child, and just over 2.5% report having perpetrated at least one sexually abusive act against a child. More students in this survey report fantasies about child sex than in past surveys, perhaps because of the increased availability of child pornography, or differences in willingness to admit such fantasies. The results are discussed in terms of the need for prevention programs
Open Access
CSWS Research Matters ; 2009 : 3 (Fall)
(Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon, 2009) Freyd, Jennifer J.
Women are diagnosed with a host of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), more often than men. Why? This mystery has inspired countless theories, but has remained unsolved.
Open Access
Dissociation and Memory for Neutral and Traumatic Stories
(2005-11) Klest, Bridget K. (Bridget Kristen); Freyd, Jennifer J.
Previous research has consistently found a positive correlation between history of trauma and dissociation, and recent research (DePrince and Freyd, 1999; 2004) suggests that people who score high on a measure of dissociation may have enhanced abilities at dividing attention and suppressing traumatic information from consciousness. The current study set out to replicate these findings using more complex stimuli than have been used previously. Fifty-two subjects, half scoring high and half low on the Dissociative Experiences Scale, watched neutral videos while listening to neutral and trauma related stories. High dissociators remembered significantly more than low dissociators when listening to neutral stories, and performed no differently than low dissociators when listening to trauma related stories. This interaction was significant, t (50) = 1.72, p < .05 (one-tailed), and this finding is consistent with previous research.
Open Access
Dissociative tendencies, attention, and memory
(Blackwell, 1999) DePrince, Anne P.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Two groups of college students were selected on the basis of their scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). The high-DES group and low-DES group both completed the standard and a new dual-task version of the Stroop ink-naming task with xs (baseline condition) and color, neutral, and emotionally charged words. Free recall results indicated that high-DES participants remembered fewer emotionally charged words than low-DES participants. We found a crossover interaction for Stroop interference: High-DES participants showed more interference (conflicting color--baseline latency for ink naming) in a selective-attention Stroop task and less interference in the dual-task Stroop task. The interaction between attentional context and dissociation for Stroop interference and the free recall results are consistent with a cognitive-environments view of dissociative tendencies. In this view, dissociative tendencies, which have been otherwise speculated to be largely deleterious, can be advantageous in certain contexts.
Open Access
Empirical Investigations of Betrayal and Memory Impairment
(2000-11-18) Freyd, Jennifer J.
Open Access
Examining Dissociation in Maltreated Preschool Children
(2006-11) Cholankeril, Annmarie; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Pears, K.C.; Becker-Blease, Kathryn; Fisher, P.A.
The purpose of this study is to examine dissociation in a population of preschool-age foster children with documented cases of maltreatment. Data were collected from participants in the Early Intervention Foster Care program (EIFC), a randomized efficacy trial based on the empirically evaluated Multidimensional Specialized Foster Care program. Dissociative symptoms were assessed using three subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) that have been previously published in the trauma literature. Because the three subscales were highly intercorrelated, items were combined for a Exploratory Factor Analysis. Two distinct factors were found that may comprise new subscales assessing dissociative symptomatology and post-traumatic arousal symptomatology. In order to test their predictive validity, analyses compared the foster care sample and a community sample with no known maltreatment history and also compared dissociation across maltreatment categories. Implications for the use of dissociation as an adaptive coping mechanism are discussed.
Open Access
Exploring the Potential of Pennebaker’s Writing Paradigm on Betrayal Trauma Sequelae
(2004-08) Allard, Carolyn B. (Carolyn Brigitte), 1968-; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Momiyama, Takenori
In Pennebaker's writing paradigm, participants are instructed either to write about emotional events or neutral topics. Those assigned to the emotional writing condition typically display physical and psychological health improvements as compared to those who write about something neutral (Pennebaker, 1997; Smyth, 1998). Up until now, the writing paradigm has for the most part been applied to events which have been described as emotional but not specifically traumatic and those few studies that have looked at the effect of writing about traumatic experiences have only involved one-time non-complex traumas. There is evidence that the consequences of one-time traumas are different than those of continuous, complex traumas, such as child abuse. Furthermore, betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1996, 2001) distinguishes traumas on the basis of two event dimensions which may elicit different reactions: life-threat (e.g. major car accident; violent rape by a stranger) and social betrayal (e.g. abuse by a close other). Betrayal trauma is perpetrated by someone who is close to the victim and/or upon whom the victim is dependent. Such events are associated with unawareness and impaired memory for the trauma, presumably for the purpose of preserving the victim-perpetrator relationship. Exposure to betrayal trauma has been associated with various negative sequelae. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the generalizability of Pennebaker's Paradigm to betrayal trauma. A secondary goal of the study was to help elucidate the mechanism behind this phenomenon by analyzing the content of the essays using Pennebaker's Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker, Francis & Booth, 2001), and rating the essays in terms of characteristics hypothesized to play important roles in the effect of writing, such as coherence, presence of emotion words, narrative point of view, and development over time. Sixty-five physically symptomatic university undergraduates (51 female, 14 male; mean age = 19.94 years, SD = 3.86) were randomly assigned to one of two writing conditions. Participants in the traumatic condition were asked to write about a distressing interpersonal event they experienced during childhood and those in the neutral condition were asked to write about how they spent their time during the previous day. They wrote about their assigned topic twice, one week apart. All participants were administered abuse inventories, and pre and posttest physical and psychological health questionnaires. Over 50% of all participants reported having experienced at least one betrayal trauma and women reported more betrayal trauma than men. Betrayal trauma and health measures were found to be negatively related. A significant gender by writing condition interaction emerged, which revealed that, in general, women in the trauma writing condition benefited more than men. Closer examination of the content and structure of the essays revealed interesting patterns between certain writing components and outcome measures. These findings suggest that it would be fruitful to consider the type of trauma experienced by a person when determining the best intervention. In addition, directing the writing process to include those components found to be related to outcomes may enhance the effectiveness of a writing intervention. This needs to be tested in a controlled experimental trial. Future research is also recommended to replicate these findings in a larger and less homogenous population.
Open Access
Forgetting traumatic stimuli
(2004-02-20T23:21:48Z) DePrince, Anne P.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Previous work reported in this journal (DePrince & Freyd, 1999) suggested that the cognitive capacities of high dissociators are impaired under conditions of focused (selective) attention, but not under conditions of divided attention, compared to low dissociators. Using a directed forgetting paradigm, the current study demonstrates that under divided-attention demands high dissociators have impaired memory for words associated with trauma (e.g. "incest") but not neutral words, as compared with low dissociators. In addition, the high dissociators report significantly more trauma history and significantly more "betrayal trauma" (abuse by a caregiver). These results are consistent with the proposal that dissociation may aid individuals with a history of betrayal traumas to keep threatening information out of awareness.
Open Access
From the Center ; 2003 : 1 (Spring)
(Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon, 2003) Weigt, Jill; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Berry, Kate; Gonzales, Lisa; Morgen, Sandra; Acker, Joan; Heath, Terri; Fuller, Linda, 1944-; Musick, Judith S.
Open Access
Global Coding of Trauma Essays Predicts Health
(2004-11) Klest, Bridget K. (Bridget Kristen); Freyd, Jennifer J.
Past research has demonstrated in a variety of contexts that writing about emotional topics can benefit physical health and general well being. Most of this prior research has used a computer program, but not global essay ratings, to assess what aspects of written essays might be associated with such benefits. Yet scoring rubrics are commonly used in the field of education to score global aspects of student writing. The current study used a sub-sample of essays from a larger research project on trauma, writing and health to develop a global rating rubric for essays about trauma based on rubrics used in education. The resulting rubric was reliably applied to participants' essays about trauma. Global ratings of the coherence or organization of participants' essays were correlated with improvements in physical and mental health measures at a six-month follow-up. Possible implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.
Open Access
Health Effects by Closeness of Sexual Abuse Perpetrator: A Test of Betrayal Trauma Theory
(2006-11) Edwards, Valerie J.; Freyd, Jennifer J.; Dube, Shanta R.; Anda, Robert F.; Felitti, Vincent J.
Betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1999) postulates that abuse perpetrated by a caregiver or someone close to you results in worse outcomes than abuse perpetrated by someone less central to your well-being. We used data from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study to examine this hypothesis in relation to a variety of adult health outcomes. We tested whether adults whose abuser was a family member or non-relative living in the home would report substantially poorer health than those whose abuser was a family friend, relative living outside the home, or a stranger. Participants were HMO members undergoing a complete physical examination. 3,100 (17.4%) reported some form of childhood sexual abuse (fondling, attempted intercourse, or intercourse) and also identified their abuser. Thirty-two percent of sexual abuse survivors had high betrayal, defined as an abuser who was a family or non-family member living in the home. Over 75% of those reporting a high betrayal abuser were women. High betrayal abuse was related to depression, anxiety, suicidality, panic, and anger. High betrayal subjects had poorer health functioning on the SF-36 role-physical, role-emotional, and social functioning scales than low betrayal victims.
Open Access
In the wake of terrorist attack hatred may mask fear
(Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2001-09) Freyd, Jennifer J.
Reactions of anger, rage, and hatred in the wake of September 11 terrorist attack are considered in light of the psychology of emotion and stress. Acknowledging underlying grief and fear through self-reflection, writing, and social communication is likely to reduce unchecked anger, rage, and hatred. Hate crimes may also have some psychological bases in responses to stress called “flight-or-fight.” When flight is not an option, identifying and hating an enemy may have had evolutionary value for survival. This response creates harm in the current situation. An alternative cooperative response to stress, called “tend-and-befriend” by researchers, will be more helpful.
Open Access
Lack of precision, misleading implications, and ethical issues arising from the use of the label "false memory" for errors in word memory
(2004-11) DePrince, Anne P.; Allard, Carolyn B. (Carolyn Brigitte), 1968-; Oh, Hannah; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Since 1995, psychologists have increasingly used the term "false memory" to describe memory errors for details (e.g., errors for words learned in a list); such errors in details were once referred to by other terms, such as "intrusions". "False memories" is also used to refer to suggestibility experiments in which whole events are apparently confabulated and in media accounts of contested memories of childhood abuse. We examined use of the term "false memory/ies" to describe 1.) suggestibility for, or confabulation of, entire events or 2.) errors in details. Using the keyword "false memory/ies", journal articles published between 1992 and August 2003 were identified. Editorials, commentaries, responses to other articles, and book reviews were excluded. Of the 397 articles collected, 222 (55.9%) were empirical reports. Approximately 70% of empirical articles used the term "false memory/ies" to refer to error in details. The shift in language away from prior terms such as "memory intrusions" to a new use of the term "false memory" presents serious ethical challenges to the data-interpretation process by encouraging over-generalization and misapplication of research findings on word memory to social issues. The research and ethical implications of the new use of the term will be discussed.
Open Access
Memory and Dissociative Tendencies: The Roles of Attentional Context and Word Meaning in a Di rected Forgetting Task
(Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 2001) DePrince, Anne P.; Freyd, Jennifer J.
Conceptual and methodological approaches from cog nitive science have increasingly been applied to research examining the relation between trauma, dissociation and basic cognitive functioning. The current study replicates and extends recent research that examined performance in a directed forgetting task using PTSD and trauma history as the grouping variables (McNally, Metzger, Lasko, Clancy, & Pitman, 1998) to college students who were classified as high or low dissociators based on their performance on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES: Bernstein & Putnam, 1986). High and low DES participants’ performance was examined under two attentional contexts: a selective attention condition and two new divided attention conditions (based on DePrince & Freyd, 1999). Differences between the groups were revealed when a divided attention version of the task was employed. Consistent with DePrince and Freyd (1999), when divided attention was required, high DES participants recalled fewer trauma and more neutral words than did low DES participants, who showed the opposite pattern.