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. 2020 May-Jun;21(3):305-318.
doi: 10.1080/15299732.2019.1678214. Epub 2019 Oct 12.

Dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder in women in partial and residential levels of psychiatric care

Sarah B Hill  1 , Jonathan D Wolff  1 , Cara E Bigony  2 , Sherry R Winternitz  1   3 , Kerry J Ressler  1   3 , Milissa L Kaufman  1   3 , Lauren A M Lebois  1   3
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Dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder in women in partial and residential levels of psychiatric care

Sarah B Hill et al. J Trauma Dissociation. 2020 May-Jun.

Abstract

The dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is estimated to characterize about 12-30% of those with PTSD. Some research links this subtype with increased severity of PTSD symptoms compared to samples with "classic" PTSD. However, prevalence and severity rates reported in the literature have varied. One possible explanation for these discrepancies could be related to where the populations were sampled. Therefore, we investigated whether these differences are still observed when holding level of care constant. We collected data from 104 women at a partial and residential psychiatric hospital program focused on trauma-related disorders. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing trauma exposure, symptoms and provisional diagnosis of PTSD, trauma-related thoughts and beliefs, and feelings of shame. All participants reported a history of childhood and/or adulthood trauma exposure. Eighty-eight (85%) met criteria for PTSD, and of those, seventy-three (83%) met criteria for the dissociative subtype as assessed by the Dissociative Subtype of PTSD Scale. A series of independent t-tests revealed no significant differences between the "classic" and dissociative PTSD groups with respect to lifetime or childhood trauma exposure, posttraumatic cognitions, shame, or overall PTSD severity. Our results suggest that samples with classic PTSD and the dissociative subtype may not differ in some types of symptom severity when holding level of care constant. Importantly, however, we found at partial/residential level of care the majority of patients with PTSD were dissociative. Given the elevated prevalence rate in this sample, these findings support the need to assess dissociative symptoms, particularly in more acute psychiatric settings.

Keywords: PTSD; dissociation; traumatic stress; women’s health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

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