The relationship between executive functioning and dissociation

Abstract

Although dissociation by definition affects cognition, few studies have used neuropsychological measures to examine dissociative phenomena. This study compared 33 high and 32 low dissociators based on the Dissociative Experiences Scale, on self-report and neuropsychological measures of executive function, including the Dysexecutive Questionnaire, Iowa Gambling Task, Operation Span task, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64. High dissociators endorsed significantly more executive difficulties than did low dissociators, but these difficulties were not related to their performance on neuropsychological measures. Results suggest that dissociative individuals' perceptions of executive impairments may be divorced from objective deficits, revealing an important process underlying the clinical manifestations of dissociation.