Dissociation : Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 185-188 : Construct validity of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES): I. The relationship between the DES and other self-report measures of DES
Loading...
Date
1991-12
Authors
Frischholz, Edward J.
Braun, Bennett G.
Sachs, Roberta G.
Schwartz, David R.
Lewis, Jennifer
Shaeffer, Denise
Westergaard, Cindy
Pasquotto, James N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation
Abstract
The present study attempted to expand the construct validity of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) by comparing it to: (a) other self-report measures of dissociation (e.g., the Tellegen Absorption Scale [TAS] and the Perceptual Alteration Scale [PAS]); (b) the construct
of "ambiguity intolerance" (assessed by the Yellen Ambiguity Intolerance Scale [YAIS]); and (c) the Jenkins Activity Schedule (JAS: which measures the degree of Type A behavior). Three hundred
and eleven undergraduates participated in an experiment on "Hypnotizability and Personality, " and filled out the DES TAS, PAS, YAIS, and JAS. The DES total score (and three DES factor scores) correlated with the TAS and PAS in the range of .24 - .52 (all correlations were significant at the .001 level, two-tailed). Furthermore, the DES total score (and the three DES factor scores) correlated significantly with the YAIS overall score (r's ranged from .22 - .24, all p's < .001), but did not correlate significantly with the JAS (r's ranged from -.03 - .04, ns). The findings suggest that DES scores (i.e., total scores and each of the three DES factor scores) show good
levels of convergent validity as they correlate significantly with other self-report measures of dissociation. However, the intercorrelations were not high enough to consider the different dissociation measures as interchangeable. Furthermore, subjects reporting high levels of
dissociative experiences also reported higher levels of ambiguity intolerance. However, no significant association was observed between DES scores and the Type A behavior pattern.
Description
p. 185-188