Replication of dissociation-psychosis link in New Zealand students and inmates

Abstract

To assess the relationship between dissociative and psychotic experiences, New Zealand university students (N = 119) and prison inmates (N = 42) were administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Strong correlations were found between DES scores and the psychoticism and paranoid ideation subscales of the SCL-90-R (students: r = .520, .517, respectively; inmates: r = .637, .649, respectively). While other correlations were also significant (but smaller), these results are consistent with previous studies that have used a range of measures of psychosis or schizotypy with a variety of clinical and nonclinical populations. Such consistent findings in the face of methodological diversity offer strong support for the validity of a link between the concepts of dissociation and psychosis. While this relationship has previously been interpreted indirectly, as dissociative experiences predisposing to psychotic symptoms, we suggest a direct route: that dissociative experiences of various forms may underlie some (or even all) psychotic symptoms.