Dissociation : Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 151-153 : The dissociative experiences scale: further replication and validation
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Date
1990-09
Authors
Frischholz, Edward J.
Braun, Bennett G.
Sachs, Roberta G.
Hopkins, Laura
Shaeffer, Denise
Lewis, Jennifer
Leavitt, Frank
Pasquotto, James N.
Schwartz, David R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to provide further evidence in support of the validity of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) as a reliable measure of dissociative psychopathology. The DES was administered to 259 college students, 33 patients with multiple personality disorder (MPD), and 29 patients with a dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (DDNOS). The inter-rater reliability for the DES scoring procedure was excellent (coefficient of absolute agreement=.96; coefficient of relative agreement =.99). The test retest reliability of DES scores (within approximately one month) was also excellent (coefficient of absolute agreement =.93; coefficient of relative agreement=.96) and suggests that DES total scores are temporally stable and similar in absolute value across testings. Finally, the internal consistency of DES scores was also very high (alpha for students=.93; alpha for MPD patients =.94; alpha for DDNOS patients=.94; alpha for the combined total sample=.95). Both MPD (mean DES score =55.0) and DDNOS patients (mean DES score =40.8) earned significantly higher DES scores than students (mean DES score=23.8). In addition, MPD patients earned significantly higher DES scores than DDNOS patients. The results of the present study also suggest that a DES cutoff score of 45 to 55 maximizes the probability of correctly classifying students from dissociative disorder patients (87%) while minimizing the rates of false positive (2 to 6 %) and false negative errors (7 to 11%). Suggestions for further validation research are also made.
Description
p. 151-153