Pathological Dissociative Taxon Membership, Absorption, and Reported Childhood Trauma in Women with Trauma-Related Disorders

Abstract

Employing a community sample, Irwin (1999) used the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein et al, 1994) and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Bernstein & Putnam, 1986) to show that trauma predicts pathological dissociation as measured by Waller, Putnam, and Carlson's (1996) DES-T (dissociative “taxon”) scale but does not predict ostensibly non-pathological DES absorption. Yet Irwin merely studied DES-T scores as a continuous variable rather than classifying participants with respect to taxon membership, as the DES-T items were designed to do. The present study hypothesized that, in a traumatized clinical sample, trauma would be associated both with dissociative taxon membership and with absorption. An inpatient sample of 235 women were administered the CTQ and DES. Even in this relatively homogeneous trauma sample, taxon membership showed good discriminant validity with respect to clinical diagnosis and reported childhood abuse. Furthermore, whereas the effect of reported childhood sexual abuse on absorption was accounted for by taxon membership, reported childhood emotional abuse related to absorption independent of taxon membership. The authors discuss the diagnostic utility of computing taxon membership as well as the clinical significance of highly elevated absorption scores in a trauma population.

Key Words:

• Dissociation
• absorption
• Dissociative Experiences Scale
• trauma
• sexual abuse