Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse Characteristics and Dissociation Among Women in Therapy

This study investigated the relationship between 10 characteristics of childhood sexual abuse and dissociation in adulthood. A structured clinical interview, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and the Dissociation Subscale of the Symptom Checklist 90 - Revised were administered to 118 women survivors seeking psychotherapy. Separate stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted for each dissociation scale to determine which abuse characteristics were predictive of dissociation. In both analyses, the same four variables were significantly related to dissociation: age at onset, coercive sexual acts, objectifying sexual acts, and concurrent multiple perpetrators. Implications of findings for future research and clinical practice are explored.     

In Person

Tibor Gold was born in 1942 in Budapest, Hungary. In 1958 hecame to England, where he gained degrees in physics from OxfordUniversity and in law from London University. A chartered patentattorney, registered trade mark attorney, and     

Creating the Living Brand

This article appeared in a column headed ‘Best Practice’and focuses on an aspect of brand loyalty rarely written about:how to inspire and maintain brand loyalty among the employeesof the brand owner. It advances the idea that if those employees     

Relationship Between Dissociative and Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Men and Women Reporting Childhood Sexual Abuse

The relationship between the dissociative and somatic symptoms in a clinical sample of 216 women and 35 men survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was examined. Symptom patterns were measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Somatization Scale of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and the Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, Health Concerns, and Harris–Lingoes Somatic Complaints Scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. Somatization and dissociation were related, but not at a great enough magnitude to suggest that somatic symptoms as a generic category are an integral component of dissociation. With the exception of one of the measures of somatization, the SCL-90-R somatization scale, no significant differences were found between men and women CSA survivors in symptom levels. However, the relationship between somatization and dissociation was stronger in women than in men. The findings of this study should be considered preliminary and interpreted with considerable caution, since the scales used probably are of limited validity.