Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4 (Dec. 1995)

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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 000 : Cover, table of contents
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12)
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 203-204 : Editorial : Shades of grey
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Kluft, Richard P., 1943-
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 205-208 : Dissociative symptoms in a population sample of Hungary
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Vanderlinden, Johan; Varga, Katalin; Peuskens, Jos; Pieters, Guido
    The purpose of this study was to explore the presence of dissociative experiences in a population sample of Hungary (a former communist country). The Dissociation Questionnaire (DIS-Q) was administered to a sample of the population (N = 3 .1 .1), representative for sex, age, and educational level. In general, the findings corroborate the data of all previous population studies on the prevalence of dissociative experiences: these experiences are more frequently present in adolescents and young adults, and they decline with age. The results further show that an alarming high number of subjects of the Hungarian sample, namely 10.6%, reports scores above the cutoff score of 2.5 on the DIS-Q, while 2.6% of this group even reports scores as high as the scores of European and American DID patients. More research is needed to gain more insight in those transcuaural or other factors contributing to the differences in dissociative experiences between different population samples.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 209-219 : Dissociative experiences and psychopathological symptomology in a Scottish sample
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Bauer, Amy M.; Power, Kevin G.
    This study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of dissociative experiences in a Scottish student sample using standardized instruments. Dissociative experiences, as measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II), were examined in relation to demographic variables and scores on the Symptom Distress Checklist-90 (SCL-90). The relationship between dissociative experiences and irrational thought processes was specifically investigated through the use of the Rust Inventory of Schizotypal Cognitions (RISC. Findings reveal that the patterns of dissociative experiences that characterize this sample, with respect to sex, age, and concurrent psychopathological symptomatology, are comparable to patterns that have been reported in North America. The strength of the relationship between cognitive disturbances and dissociative experiences is noted. It is suggested that the low rates of diagnosis of dissociative disorders in the United Kingdom may reflect the under-recognition or misdiagnosis of dissociative pathology rather than its absence in this country.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 220-228 :The imaginary companion phenomenon: an analysis of personality correlates and developmental antecedents
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Dierker, Lisa C.; Davis, Kristie F.; Sanders, Barbara
    In the present studies, both the incidence of recall of an imaginary companion and the remembered vividness of the experience were assessed in college students. The purpose of the research was to ascertain the extent to which individuals in a non clinical population who recall having a childhood imaginary companion share characteristics and negative life experiences with individuals diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) ; in this clinical group childhood imaginary companions are reported fairly frequently, and the experience is described as extremely vivid (Sanders, 1992). Two studies were carried out, In Study 1, students of both sexes who remembered an imaginary companion (IC+) were found to be more dissociative than those who reported not having a companion (IC I). The IC+ women also scored higher on an imaginative Involvement Inventory than IC- women. This difference did not reach statistical significance among the male students. Study 2 screened a new population of female students in order to compare three groups of women: A High Vividness group (PM, a Low Vividness group (LV), and a no-companion group (IC-). The HV group was comprised of IC+ women who said they had been able to see and hear their childhood imaginary companion, and who remembered believing the companion was real; the LV group consisted of IC+ women who answered "no " to these 3 vividness questions, and the IC- group was defined as in Study 1. The HV women were found to be significantly higher in imaginative involvement than the LV group, and also more dissociative. The LV group did not differ significantly from the IC - group. In both studies, students who reported remembering an imaginary companion, even those whose experience was perceptually vivid, did not report significantly more lonely, stressful or traumatic childhoods than comparison groups.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 229-235 :A Factor analysis of the dissociative experiences scale (DES) in dissociative identity disorder
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Ross, Colin A.; Ellason, Joan W.; Anderson, Geri
    A factor analysis of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) in 274 patients with dissociative identity disorder (DII)) was conducted as an extension of a previous DES factor analysis in a general population sample. A principal components analysis yielded three factors in the DID group that were virtually identical to those in the general population.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 236-240 : The predisposition to dissociate: The temperamental traits of flexibility/rigidity, daily rhythm, emotionality and interactional speed
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Beere, Don; Pica, Michael
    This paper 1) supports Braun and Kluft's hypothesis that there is a biological substrate for dissociativity; 2) demonstrates that one biological substrate might be temperament; 3) establishes additional construct and discriminant validity for Beere's perceptual theory of dissociation, namely, that dissociation involves a perceptual process in which "background " perceptual input is lost or degraded; and 4) extends the application of Beere's theory from dissociative reactions during trauma to dissociation in general. Measures of temperament and dissociation were administered to 125 undergraduate students. Results support Beere 's theory that dissociation involves blocking out peripheral perceptual stimuli. DES correlated significantly with flexibility/ rigidity, regularity of daily habits, social emotionality, emotionality, and social tempo. High dissociators tended to be more rigid, less regular, less emotionally responsive to negatives, and interact more quickly than low dissociators.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 241-246 : Dissociation during positive situations
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Pica, Michael; Beere, Don
    Breaking from the traditional mode of dissociation research, this study examines the experience of dissociation during positive situations. Thirty-three of ninety (36.7%) randomly selected undergraduate students reported positive dissociative experiences. In order of ranked frequency the experiences included sports, sexual encounters, prayer, contact with nature, anticipating good news, hearing good news, acting, hobbies, musical performances, and listening to music. Interestingly, low as well as high dissociators reported these types of experiences suggesting that one need not be highly dissociative in order to dissociate during a positive situation. A qualitative analysis of descriptions of positive dissociative experiences coincides precisely with Beere's perceptual theory of dissociation : dissociation occurs when perception narrows during an intense situation of personal significance and, thus, blocks out the background.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 247-252 : Therapy dogs and the dissociative patient: Preliminary observations
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Arnold, J. Cleveland
    Although pets have long been acknowledged as morale boosters, little work has been done with trained animals and dissociative patients. This paper documents dog/patient interactions in four different settings : support group, individual therapy with the patient's dog, individual therapy with the therapist's dog, and group dog obedience class. In each of these settings, the presence of the dog or dogs proved to be highly useful for both the patients and the therapist.
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    Dissociation : Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 253-258 : The confirmation and disconfirmation of memories of abuse in DID patients: A naturalistic clinical study
    (Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, 1995-12) Kluft, Richard P., 1943-
    The charts of 34 dissociative identity disorder (DID) patients in treatment with the author were reviewed for instances of the confirmation or disconfirmation of recalled episodes of abuse occurring naturalistically in the course of their psychotherapies. Nineteen, or 56%, had instances of the confirmation of recalled abuses. Ten of the 19, or 53%, had always recalled the abuses that were confirmed. However, 13 of the 19, or 68%, obtained documentation of events that were recovered in the course of therapy, usually with the use of hypnosis. Three patients, or 9%, had instances in which the inaccuracy of their recollection could be demonstrated. The forgetting of traumatic experiences, their reasonably accurate recovery in treatment, and the formation of pseudomemories in clinical populations were all documented in this study. This suggests that stances that are either extremely credulous of retrieved recollections or extremely skeptical of retrieved recollections are inconsistent with clinical data, and therefore are not constructive influences on the contemporary scientific study of trauma and memory.