The Shutdown Dissociation Scale (Shut-D)

Abstract

The evolutionary model of the defense cascade by Schauer and Elbert (2010) provides a theoretical frame for a short interview to assess problems underlying and leading to the dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder. Based on known characteristics of the defense stages “fright,” “flag,” and “faint,” we designed a structured interview to assess the vulnerability for the respective types of dissociation. Most of the scales that assess dissociative phenomena are designed as self-report questionnaires. Their items are usually selected based on more heuristic considerations rather than a theoretical model and thus include anything from minor dissociative experiences to major pathological dissociation. The shutdown dissociation scale (Shut-D) was applied in several studies in patients with a history of multiple traumatic events and different disorders that have been shown previously to be prone to symptoms of dissociation. The goal of the present investigation was to obtain psychometric characteristics of the Shut-D (including factor structure, internal consistency, retest reliability, predictive, convergent and criterion-related concurrent validity).

A total population of 225 patients and 68 healthy controls were accessed. Shut-D appears to have sufficient internal reliability, excellent retest reliability, high convergent validity, and satisfactory predictive validity, while the summed score of the scale reliably separates patients with exposure to trauma (in different diagnostic groups) from healthy controls.

The Shut-D is a brief structured interview for assessing the vulnerability to dissociate as a consequence of exposure to traumatic stressors. The scale demonstrates high-quality psychometric properties and may be useful for researchers and clinicians in assessing shutdown dissociation as well as in predicting the risk of dissociative responding.

• Shutdown dissociation
• assessment
• PTSD
• multiple trauma
• subtype

For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files under ‘Article Tools’

For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files under ‘Article Tools’

Acknowledgements

We thank the respondents who participated in the study, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the European Refugee Fund that funded the project. Special thanks to Yolanda Schlumpf, Ekaterina Weder, and Prof. Jäncke for their assessment using the Shutdown Dissociation Scale in patients with dissociative identity disorder as well as to Dorothea Isele for her assessment of the convergent validity. Thanks to Drs. Elisabeth Kaiser, Katalin Dohrmann, Julia Morath, Maria Roth, Roland Weierstall, Alexandra Geist, Charlotte Salmen, and Franziska Unholzer for their support of the assessment.

Conflict of interest and funding

There is no conflict of interest in the present study for any of the authors. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the European Refugee Fund as well as the University of Konstanz funded the studies.

Notes

For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files under ‘Article Tools’

¹With the kind permission of the Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland (Yolanda Schlumpf, Ekaterina Weder, and Prof. Lutz Jäncke).