Racial and Ethnic Differences in Dissociation: An Examination of the Dissociative Experiences Scale in a Nonclinical Population

Abstract

The present study sought to examine normative dissociation within a racially and ethnically diverse nonclinical sample. In all, 317 undergraduates, including 190 Whites and 127 racial/ethnic minorities from a large research university participated in the current study. Results indicated differences in dissociation as a function of race: African and Asian Americans reported significantly higher rates of dissociation compared to Whites. There were no differences in psychological adjustment indicators as a function of race. The findings indicate that race moderates the relationship between dissociation and psychological adjustment outcomes for Blacks (all models) and Asian Americans (1 model), such that higher rates of dissociation are associated with lower rates of psychological distress as compared to Whites.

KEYWORDS:

• dissociation
• racial and ethnic differences
• nonclinical population
• moderation effects

Data were collected at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. This paper is a new analysis of data that were collected for my doctoral dissertation and master's thesis under the supervision of Michelle K. Williams at the University of Connecticut. Special thanks to Michelle Williams, Barbara Sanders, and Irving Kirsch for their help with these projects. Thanks to Becky Wai-Ling Packard and anonymous reviewers for their comments on pervious versions of this manuscript. Portions of this data were presented at the Teachers College 20th Winter Roundtable on Cross Cultural Psychology, February 2003, New York, NY, and the 109th American Psychological Association Annual Convention, August 2001, San Francisco and at the 4th World Congress on Traumatic Stress Studies, June 2006, Buenos Aires, Argentina.