Trauma-Related Altered States of Consciousness: Exploring the 4-D Model
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Date
2014-06-30
Authors
Frewen, Paul A.
Lanius, Ruth A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
Frewen and Lanius (in press) recently articulated a 4-D model as
a framework for classifying symptoms of posttraumatic stress into
those that potentially occur within normal waking consciousness
(NWC) versus those that intrinsically represent dissociative experiences
of trauma-related altered states of consciousness (TRASC).
Four dimensions were specified: time-memory, thought, body, and
emotion. The 4-D model further hypothesizes that in traumatized
persons, symptoms of TRASC, compared with NWC forms of distress,
will be (a) observed less frequently; (b) less intercorrelated,
especially as measured as moment-to-moment states; (c) observed
more frequently in people with high dissociative symptomatology
as measured independently; and (d) observed more often in people
who have experienced repeated traumatization, particularly
early developmental trauma. The aim of the present research was
to begin to evaluate these 4 predictions of the 4-D model. Within a
sample of 74 women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) primarily
due to histories of childhood trauma, as well as within a 2nd
sample of 504 undergraduates (384 females), the 1st 2 hypotheses
of the 4-D model were supported. In addition, within the PTSD sample,
the 3rd hypothesis was supported. However, inconsistent with
the 4th hypothesis, severity of childhood trauma history was not strongly associated with TRASC. We conclude that the hypotheses
articulated by the 4-D model were generally supported, although
further research in different trauma-related disorders is needed,
and the role of childhood trauma history in the etiology of TRASC
requires further research.
Description
22 pages
Keywords
dissociation, depersonalization, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma-related altered states of consciousness (TRASC), childhood abuse and neglect, 4-D model
Citation
Paul A. Frewen & Ruth A. Lanius (2014) Trauma-Related Altered States of Consciousness: Exploring the 4-D Model, Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 15:4, 436-456, DOI: 10.1080/15299732.2013.873377