Dissociation in an outpatient sample of women reporting childhood sexual abuse

Abstract

Researchers are providing evidence for the presence of dissociative symptoms in patients with histories of childhood sexual abuse. A total of 53 outpatient women who reported sexual abuse in childhood were interviewed and compared with 30 outpatient controls who reported no abuse. Controlling for the effect of physical abuse or maltreatment unrelated to sexual abuse, significant differences in mean scores were found on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. The effect of physical abuse or maltreatment on dissociation scores was not significant but may have been sensitive to the size of the sample.