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Some evidence in non-clinical groups suggests that the relationship context in which dissociation is experienced might moderate its association with shame. The current study used vignettes detailing either dissociative symptoms or the expression of sadness occurring in three different relationship contexts: with a friend, an acquaintance, or when alone. Ratings of emotional (e.g. shame, anxiety) and behavioral (e.g. leave, talk) reactions were made on single-item measures, and shame feelings were further assessed with the State Shame Scale. Participants were in treatment for either dissociative identity disorder (n = 31) or other specified dissociative disorder (n = 3; N = 34). Feelings of shame were elevated in the acquaintance condition compared to when with a close friend or alone regardless of whether dissociation or sadness was experienced. In the acquaintance context, participants exposed to dissociation or sadness reported feeling annoyed at themselves, having a greater desire to leave, and a lesser desire to talk compared to when these experiences happened with a close friend or alone. Results suggest those with a dissociative disorder appraise themselves as more vulnerable to shame if experiencing dissociation or sadness when with an acquaintance, potentially because the risk of not being understood and rejected is heightened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that the relationship between childhood abuse and the presence of auditory hallucinations is mediated by dissociation, specifically depersonalization and absorption. The current study assessed dissociation as a mediator of the relationship between childhood abuse and auditory hallucination frequency, characteristics and associated distress in those with dissociative identity disorder (DID; n = 50) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD; n = 49). It also tested whether dissociation mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and the presence of non-auditory hallucinations. Participants completed measures of childhood abuse, dissociation, auditory hallucination frequency, characteristics, distress, and non-auditory hallucinations. With distress associated with auditory hallucinations as the outcome, depersonalization was a mediator in the DID group. For non-auditory hallucinations, in the DID group depersonalization and amnesia were mediators between childhood abuse and the presence of visual, tactile and olfactory hallucinations. In the SSD group absorption mediated between childhood abuse and visual, olfactory and gustatory hallucinations. Results suggest that the presence of non-auditory hallucinations in DID and SSD are associated with different dissociative experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent theoretical models and preliminary data suggest that shame is a central emotion in the context of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH or voice-hearing). Nevertheless, all previous studies were correlational. Thus, the present study sought to explore whether simulated AVH experiences can trigger shame using an experimental design. Methods: 346 participants from the general population were randomised to one of 6 conditions. They had to read a vignette describing a character who was either in a situation alone or with a close friend. While reading the vignettes, participants also heard either negative or neutral simulated voices or non-voice neutral sounds. Subsequently, participants completed different measures, including shame. Results: Our results showed that both the negative and neutral simulated voice-hearing triggered higher levels of shame, but also other negative emotions when compared to ambient sound, regardless of the social context. Participants in the simulated voice-hearing conditions reported higher levels of maladaptive coping strategies and negative beliefs about voices than in the ambient sound condition. Conclusions: The simulation of neutral and negative voices trigger similar levels of subjective shame, indicating the effect is not specific to negative voices but rather associated with the experience per se. Nevertheless, it can also trigger other negative emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies employed a dissociative detachment induction technique to examine if experiences of dissociation increased acute shame feelings. Study 1 recruited college participants, while Study 2 enlisted adults attending treatment for childhood sexual abuse. Two hypotheses were explored: (1) more shame would be reported following a dissociative detachment induction than a relaxation induction; and (2) shame would increase when detachment was induced in the relationship context of a close other than when alone. Study 1 (N = 81) effectively induced detachment and participants reported higher shame in this condition compared to the relaxation condition. This effect was maintained when state anxiety was controlled. The relationship context produced no impact on dissociation or shame. Attributions around feeling flawed predominantly linked detachment experiences with subsequent shame feelings. In Study 2 with clinical participants (N = 28), regression analyses showed state shame was predicted by acute detachment after controlling for state anxiety, gender, and trait shame and dissociation. The most common appraisals offered for why detachment led to feelings of shame was being flawed and exposed. Collectively, our findings suggest that increased acute shame results from detachment experiences, making more specific the relationship between shame and dissociation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated a 60-item version of the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation (MID) with the potential to capture the full range of dissociative symptoms that characterize each of the dissociative disorders (DD). The 28-item Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) was designed to capture a wide range of dissociative phenomena, but college population studies indicate it may not be adept at identifying the full range of dissociative symptoms and disorders. The 218-item MID has the advantage of capturing the full range of dissociative symptoms and has diagnostic capabilities for all DSM-5 DD, but the disadvantage of taking considerably longer than the DES to complete. Using university students and staff (N = 313), this paper investigated a 60-item version of the MID with the potential to capture the full range of dissociative symptoms that characterize each of the DD. Results indicate the MID-60 has a nearly identical factor structure to the full MID, excellent internal reliability, and content and convergent validity. Using the MID-60, at least 8% of participants at an Australian university were positive for a DD and, on average, participants self-reported having dissociative experiences 13% of the time. The present study's findings suggest the MID-60 is a promising alternative to the DES, with results about the prevalence of DDs and dissociative experiences consistent with those found using clinical interviews and the DES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) involves a physical act with the intent of harming the self. There are many precipitants to this behavior, with dissociation receiving increasing attention. The current study examined the quartile risk model for predicting deliberate self-harm, which proposes that four quadrants of dissociation (low normative, high normative, low clinical, and high clinical) represent varying levels of risk for engagement in DSH. The model posits that quadrants one and three (low normative, low clinical), protect against engagement in deliberate self-harm. Quadrants two and four (high normative, high clinical), represent an increased risk of engaging in DSH. The current study also investigated the association between shame and deliberate self-harm. College students (n = 247) completed measures assessing trait dissociation, state and trait shame, and deliberate self-harm. Results did not support the quartile risk model, rather they suggested a general increasing level of deliberate self-harm with heightened dissociation. Furthermore, trait shame was significantly associated with deliberate self-harm. Significantly more state shame was found to occur before engaging in deliberate self-harm relative to after. Results suggest shame and dissociation are related to increased DSH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While evidence suggests a division between two qualitatively distinct forms of dissociation, no scale has been specifically designed to differentiate between them. This study describes the development and validation of the Detachment and Compartmentalization Inventory (DCI). The DCI was developed from dissociation theory, 29 existing dissociation scales and expert opinion. An initial pilot study was conducted which assessed readability, explored validity and reduced items before the DCI was administered online to 89 nonclinical and 105 clinical participants. The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ), and Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) were included in the survey battery. The DCI exhibited good internal reliability, discriminant validity, convergent validity, construct validity and concurrent validity. The final version containing 22-items, is self-administered, grounded in the theoretical literature and supported by initial psychometric evaluation. It has 10 items assessing compartmentalization, 10 items assessing detachment and two items examining valid responding. The DCI could detect compartmentalization and detachment, and was designed for clinical research and for screening patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines one particular way a person abused may come to internally position themselves and the abuser to understand their abuse experience. It is based on a differentiation and exploration of the dynamic relationship between shame and humiliation associated with complex feelings the abused has to the abuser. Humiliation is described as denoting the naked self exposedbyanother, while shame is described as denoting the naked self exposedtoanother. From this lens, abusive events are conceived as humiliating experiences that come to be represented as shame experiences. Shame is argued to cover over humiliation in order to separate the abused from their internal representation of the abuser (i.e., conceal the self-other object-relationship). This process is facilitated by dissociation and serves several functions, including cloaking hostile feelings (e.g., humiliation fury) toward the abusive (though loved) object. Shame, with the assistance of dissociation, becomes a compromise formation. It punishes the self for the initial humiliation rage directed at the object, protects the object from further attack and blame for the abuse, and obscures awareness of the rage felt toward the object as well as the reparatory guilt possible from it. Dissociation maintains this position by isolating the interpersonal field, the self and object, from the narrative of abuse events. The potential for freedom comes from eroding dissociation, leaving the shame bubble, entertaining the abusive (though loved) object as etiologically significant, and facing the humiliation and humiliation rage that provides the path to reparatory guilt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article informs that humanity has been riddled with brutality since beginning with cases like slavery, human sacrifice, publically punishing women for disobeying their husbands, religious massacres, legitimized torture and inhumane treatment of children. Topics discussed include relationship between abused and abuser, human rights as a central value in modern Western culture and existence of powerful long-term dynamics that cause victims to remain silent.

Controversy exists regarding the merits of exposure-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) versus a phased approach when prominent dissociative symptoms are present. The first aim of this study was to examine the degree to which diagnosing dissociation in two traumatized patients’ vignettes influenced clinicians’ preference for phase-oriented treatment and whether clinicians’ treatment experience contributed to their treatment preference. The second aim was to assess the extent to which participants had observed traumatized patients worsen when treated with exposure therapy or phase-oriented therapy and whether the theoretical orientation and treatment experience of the clinician were related to the observed deterioration. In the tradition of expert and practitioner surveys, 263 clinicians completed a survey of their diagnoses and treatment preferences for two vignettes and their treatment experience, theoretical orientation, and observations of patients’ deterioration. When a marked degree of dissociation was noted in the PTSD vignette, respondents favored phased approaches regardless of the diagnosis given. Reports of having observed patient deterioration during both exposure and phased therapy were predicted by years of experience. Psychodynamic therapists reported more observations of worsening during exposure therapy than cognitive behavior therapy therapists. Clinical experience treating PTSD may heighten awareness of negative therapeutic effects, potentially because experienced clinicians have a lower threshold for detecting such effects and because they are referred more challenging cases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author highlights two areas at an organizational level in which dissoaciation might operate in the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) in 2017. Topics discussed include personal observation from a social and political context where important change and development happened, possible dissociative parts of ISSTD and the need to move these dissociative identities toward integration.

This study investigates the causal role of dissociation in intrusive memory development and possible underlying aberrant memory processes (e.g., increased perceptual priming). Using an audio-only adaption of the trauma film paradigm, we divided 60 participants into 3 conditions and presented them with different visual tasks—mirror staring, dot staring, or neutral images. The former 2 conditions were hypothesized to induce dissociation. Postaudio, a number of factors were assessed, including state dissociation, perceptual priming and conceptual priming, as well as intrusions over 3 days. Participants in the dissociation conditions displayed an increase in perceptual priming compared to those in the control condition and reported more distressing intrusions. No differences were found in conceptual priming and the overall number of intrusions between conditions. Findings contribute to the growing knowledge on the impact of dissociation and cognitive processing in the etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder intrusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the direct and indirect effects of cognitions and anxiety associated with aftershocks on psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, acute stress) and daily functioning (general and relationship). Participants were 600 adults from Christchurch, New Zealand. Data collection was approximately four months after the fatal 2011 earthquake. Path analysis was used for modelling. Socioeconomic status was directly associated with appraisals of uncontrollability of response to aftershocks. These cognitions were directly related to aftershock anxiety, which heightened general anxiety, depression, and acute stress symptoms. These symptoms were directly associated with relationship and general life dysfunction. Aftershock anxiety plays a significant role in ongoing psychological distress associated with earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only a select number of studies have examined different forms of child maltreatment in complex dissociative disorders (DDs) in comparison to other groups. Few of these have used child abuse–related chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) and mixed psychiatric (MP) patients with maltreatment as comparison groups. This study examined child sexual, physical, and emotional abuse as well as physical and emotional neglect in DD (n = 39), C-PTSD (n = 13), and MP (n = 21) samples, all with abuse and neglect histories. The predictive capacity of these different forms of maltreatment across the 3 groups was assessed for pathological dissociation, shame, guilt, relationship esteem, relationship anxiety, relationship depression, and fear of relationships. All forms of maltreatment differentiated the DD from the MP group, and sexual abuse differentiated the DD sample from the C-PTSD group. Childhood sexual abuse was the only predictor of pathological dissociation. Emotional abuse predicted shame, guilt, relationship anxiety, and fear of relationships. Emotional neglect predicted relationship anxiety and relationship depression. Physical neglect was associated with less relationship anxiety. Different forms of abuse and neglect are associated with different symptom clusters in psychiatric patients with maltreatment histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to investigate perception of self, others, and relationships in adults with a history of psychological maltreatment during childhood. Six participants from a low-cost counseling agency completed a semistructured interview. Four superordinate themes emerged: (a) shame-based perception of self, (b) self-protection from emotional pain, (c) limited awareness of others, and (d) shame-based roles in relationships. Psychological maltreatment has pervasive and deleterious consequences for self-worth, perception of others, and interpersonal functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a cognitive organization that operates during times of perceived or actual threat in individuals with dissociative psychopathology. This organization, referred to as the dissociative processing style (DPS), serves as a threat monitoring systern. It is characterized by (1) a shift from selective attention processing to multiple streams of information processing, (2) weakened cognitive inhibitory functioning which allows these streams to be operational and (3) the directing of awareness towards sonic and away from other information streams. Whilst DPS activation has the potential for adaptive and protective functions, it also heightens the likelihood of dissociative symptom experience and dissociation itself. Dissociation is understood as a failure to integrate encoded information from multiple input streams. The DPS is argued to be activated by top-down processes which signal danger, such as the appraisal of contextual cues. A clinical example is used to highlight the characteristics of the DPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the veracity of whether Pierre Janet actually recanted or lost interest in his dissociation theory through an examination of his later writings. The viewpoint that Janet repudiated his belief in dissociation theory has been cited to support skepticism in dissociative identity disorder. It also cites that there is no evidence that Janet has renounced or lost confidence in his dissociation theory.

The article presents a study on Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) that were detected by Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists in Northern Ireland. The psychologists and psychiatrists completed three clinical vignettes used for detecting DID. Findings suggest that detection occurs when discriminating and characteristic symptoms were present, but majority of clinicians failed to diagnose DID in a clear-cut case, this implies that the ability to detect positive cases of DID are reduced.

Following a resurgence of militant resistance to British rule among Irish Nationalists in 1916, the landmass of Ireland was divided in 1921. Twenty-six counties gained independence from Britain and become the Republic of Ireland, while 6 counties, in the northeast, remained politically attached to Britain and became known as Northern Ireland. Since the partitioning of Northern Ireland from the Republic, political-motivated violence has been used by those fighting for a united Ireland free of British rule, as well as those defending Northern Ireland's union with Britain. This violence reached a greater intensity and ferocity in the late 1960s with the start of what is referred to as "the Troubles." This piece examines the many manifestations of trauma in Northern Ireland, from the familial and interpersonal to the social and political. Moreover, attention is given to the growing study of dissociation in Northern Ireland. Case examples are used throughout to highlight salient points and demonstrate the human cost of trauma and dissociation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies cognitive inhibition in dissociative identity disorder compared to depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and psychosis. Weakened cognitive inhibitory functioning; Psychosis sample displayed.

The current study examined cognitive inhibition, a mechanism of working memory, in dissociative identity disorder (DID). A negative priming procedure was used to assess inhibitory functioning in DID patients, as well as in a general population sample and a psychiatric comparison sample. Results from the first study show a significant interaction between group and experimental condition; the general population sample showed an independently non-significant trend towards negative priming while the two psychiatric groups showed no evidence of negative priming. Using different stimuli and a new priming procedure, Study 2 essentially replicated the findings of Study 1 with the control sample displaying significant negative priming and the two psychiatric samples producing no negative priming. High dissociativity was significantly related to reduced negative priming in Study 2. Findings suggest a relationship between DID and weakened inhibitory functioning and are discussed with reference to the negative priming and dissociation literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present aim was to provide a cross-cultural examination of the association between religiosity and life satisfaction. The Theism Scale (Maranell, Responses to Religion: Studies in the social Psychology of Religious Belief, 1974) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75, 1985) were completed by 166 Ghanaian, 173 Nigerian, 141 Northern Irish and 73 Swaziland university students. The results show no significant association between religiosity and life satisfaction for women in any of the four samples. However, there was a significant association between religiosity and life satisfaction for men in three of the four samples. Further, the Ghanaian sample had significantly higher 'attitude toward God' scores than the other three cultural groups, while the Northern Irish sample scored significantly lower on the 'attitude toward God' scale than all other groups. Females reported significantly higher 'attitude toward God' scores than males across the cultural groups. The results are discussed with reference to previous mono-cultural studies on religion and life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the correlation between religious ritual practice and dissociation among Indian and Australian university students. Schumaker's unified theory of religion; Regression analysis; Materials and procedures used in the study; Discussion of the dissociation theory and cultural factors that influence dissociative experience.

For this study of cultural differences in the extent of depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction, 311 Australian and 250 Nepalese university students completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). No significant differences were found in depressive symptomatology. Australian respondents reported significantly higher life satisfaction than Nepalese. A moderate significant inverse relationship was found between depressive symptoms and life satisfaction in the Australian respondents, with a smaller significant inverse relationship observed among the Nepalese respondents. The findings suggest that the experience of depressive symptoms may be partially independent of life satisfaction for this Nepalese sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the association between measures of depression and life satisfaction. Although psychology has traditionally focused more on negative emotions than positive emotions, such a position is allegedly changing. Both cross-cultural and monocultural studies have reported a negative association between depression and life satisfaction. Such a funding is consistent across a number of different measures of both depression and life satisfaction. Six independent measures of life satisfaction and two measures of depression were administered among a sample of 103 university students in the U.S. The life satisfaction measures included the Satisfaction With Life Scale and the measure of life satisfaction. The depression scales were the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The association between depression and life satisfaction in all cases were negative, with correlations ranging from -.34 to -.71. The generalizability of the association between scores on measures of depression and life satisfaction from previous findings has been somewhat limited because of the universal use of student samples. Although results provided evidence for the generalizability of an inverse relationship between depression and life satisfaction, the robust nature of the finding needs further examination among adults.