CONVERGENT
VALIDITYOF THE
NEW FORM OF
THEDES
Joan W. Ellason, M.A.
Colin A. Ross, M.D.
Lawrence W. Mayran, M.A.
Kelly Sainton, M.A.
Joan W. Ellason, M.A., is a Researcher at Charter Behavioral
Health System of Dallas.
Colin A. Ross, M.D., is Director of the Dissociative Disorders
Unit at Charter Behavioral Health System of Dallas.
Lawrence W. Mayran, M.A., is a Psychology Intern at the
Dallas Child Guidance Center in Dallas, Texas.
Kelly Sainton, M.A., is a psychotherapist is in Private Practice
in Dallas, Texas.
For reprints write Colin A. Ross, M.D., 1701 Gateway Suite,
#349, Richardson, Texas 75080.
ABSTRACT
The line and circle farms of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES
I and DES II) were administered to 65 subjects in the general popu-
lation, 87 subjects with a clinical diagnosis of dissociative identity
disorder, and 26 subjects with a diagnosis chemical dependency.
In all three samples the DES II showed excellent validity when com-
pared to the original line form of the DES.
The original line/slash mark form of the Dissociative
Experiences Scale (DES I) has been well established as a reli-
able and valid measure of dissociative disorders (Bernstein
& Putnam, 1986; Ross, Norton, & Anderson, 1988; Coons,
Bowman, & Milstein, 1988; Ensink & van Otterloo, 1989;
Frischholz, et al., 1990). It has demonstrated good internal
consistency (Ross, Joshi, & Currie, 1991) and good construct
validity (Norton, Ross, & Novotny, 1990; Frischholz, et al.,
1991, 1992).The DES I has effectively screened for dissociative dis-
orders in a wide range of geographically different popula-
tions including North American patients (Ross, Norton, &
Wozney, 1989; Carlson, et al., 1993), subjects in the
Netherlands (Boon & Draijer, 1993) and Japan (Tanabe &
Ogawa, 1992), as well as Cambodian refugees (Carlson &
Rosser-Hogan, 1991, 1993). It has been successfully used to
determine the level of dissociative symptomatology in the
general population (Ross, Josh, & Currie, 1990) and in var-
ious types of clinical groups such as female survivors of sex-
ual abuse (Anderson, Yasenik, & Ross, 1993), and patients
with post-traumatic stress disorder (Branscomb, 1991;
Bremner, et al., 1992) , eating disorder (Demitrack, Putnam,
Brewerton, Brandt, & Gold, 1990; Goldner, Cockhill, Bakan,
Birmingham, 1991), obsessive-compulsive disorder (Ross &
Anderson, 1988; Golf, Olin, Jenike, Baer, & Buttolph, 1992) ,
chemical dependency (Dunn, Paolo, Ryan, & Fleet, 1993;
Ross, Kronson, Koensgen, Barkman, Clark, & Rockman,1992) ,
borderline personality disorder (Herman, Perry, & van der
Kolk, 1989; Goodwin, Cheeves, & Connell, 1990), and other
general psychiatric disorders (Ross, Anderson, Fleisher, &
Norton, 1991, 1992; Saxe, et al., 1993). Although intended
for adult subjects, it has also been used to measure disso-
ciative disorders in adolescent and college-age groups (Ross,
Ryan, Anderson, Ross, & Hardy, 1989; Sanders, McRoberts,
& Toliefson,1989; Ross, Ryan, Voigt, & Eide, 1991; Sandberg
& Lynn, 1992).
The purpose of this study is to examine the convergent
validity of the new form of the Dissociative Experiences Scale
(DES II) by observing the rate of agreement between the DES
I and the DES II in three different samples. Since the origi-
nal form of the DES has well established reliability and valid-
ity, a parallel form that correlates well with it can also be
regarded as valid and appropriate.
METHOD
SubjectsParticipants consisted of 65 college students, 87 inpa-
tients with dissociative identity disorder, and 26 inpatients
with a diagnosis of chemical dependency. All subjects were
adults ranging in age from 18 to approximately 50 years of
age.
Permission was obtained for the college sample from
the Human Subjects Review Committee and for the inpa-
tient groups from the Internal Review Board, followed by
signed consent from each individual participant. Hospital
subjects were from Charter Behavioral Health System of Dallas,
and college students from Texas Women's University.
Instruments
The DES I is a 28-item test in which the respondent answers
each question by placing a slash-mark on the dotted line
under each item to indicate the percentage of time that the
symptom is experienced. It is scored by using a ruler to mea-
sure the distance in millimeters from the zero point to the
slash mark. The average of the 28 items is then obtained
(Bernstein & Putnam, 1986). The DES II consists of 28 iden-
tical questions. However, the subject responds by circling a
number representing increments of ten percentage points
for each item. These 28 numbers endorsed are then also
101
DISS0C11T1ON, Vul. V11. No. 2. June 1991
CONVERGENT VALIDITYOF THENEW DES
TABLE 1
Rate of Agreement Between the DES I and DES II
Group s
DES I
X
DES II
X
I I
r P
Dissociative
Identity Disorder 87 46.4 46.5 .95 .0001
Chemical Dependency 26 16.5 14.5 .85 .0001
General Population 65 12.1 10.9 .90 .0001
All Groups Combined 178 29.5 28.8 .96 .0001
averaged for a total score. The text of the DES II is available
in a recent paper (Carlson Putnam, 1993). The order of
administration was held constant. The DES I was consistently
administered first, followed by a minimum interval of two
days before completion of the DES II.
RESULTS
As shown in Table 1, the mean scores for the DES I and
the DES II in the MPD group (X = 46.4 and 46.5, respective-
ly; t = 0.141, NS) was higher than in the other two groups.
There was no significant difference between the mean scores
for the DES I and DES II within any of the three groups.
Convergent validity for the DES II was demonstrated
among all 178 subjects combined (r = .96, p = 0001) and cor-
relation coefficients for each of the three separate groups
ranged from .85 (p = .0001) in the chemical dependency
sample to .95 (p = .0001) in the dissociative identity group.
The dissociative group also showed the most stability among
the three groups.
DISCUSSION
There are a number of benefits of incorporating the
new form of the DES into research and clinical work. One
primary advantage of using the DES II is its ease of scoring.
Another possible benefit involves the clarity of response choic-
es available to the subject. Validity of the DES II is support-
ed by the fact that the mean scores between the two instru-
ments did not differ by more than two points in any of the
three groups. This finding should minimize any concern
regarding the possibility of patient over- or under-repre-
sentation of symptom level on the DES II.
These data suggest that the new form of the DES is a
valid measure for investigation of dissociative disorders and
can be used interchangeably with the original form of the
DES. The study, however, has a number of methodological
limitations. The time-interval between administration of the
two forms of the DES was too short to rule out carryover
effects, and demand characteristics were not controlled for.
Thus, one cannot reach a final conclusion regarding inter-
changeability of these two forms based on our data.
Nevertheless, the two instruments showed a high rate of agree-
ment in three different clinical samples. The higher scores
of the dissociative identity subjects compared to the other
two groups also provide further supportive evidence for the
reliability of the diagnosis. 
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