Psychometric properties of the pathological dissociation measures among Chinese – a pilot study using online methods

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Chien

et al. 2022

Self Cite

Background: The overlapping symptoms of schizophrenia and dissociation have been increasingly recognized. This paper explains why it is reasonable to expect that there would be a substantial subgroup of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) who suffer from pathological dissociation. Objective: As little is known about the prevalence of dissociative disorders and symptoms among patients with SSDs, we investigated the prevalence of dissociative disorders and symptoms among patients with SSDs. Method: We used both self-report measures and structured interviews to examine dissociative disorders and symptoms in a randomly recruited sample of inpatients with a clinical diagnosis of SSDs in Taiwan ( N = 100). Results: Over 60% of participants exhibited pathological dissociation, and 54% had a dissociative disorder according to structured interview data; three participants met the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for dissociative identity disorder. The concurrent validity of pathological dissociation in this sample was similar to that of depression among patients with schizophrenia reported in the literature. Participants with a dissociative disorder were more likely to report high-betrayal traumas and meet DSM-5 criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder; they also reported more psychotic symptoms than those without a dissociative disorder. Conclusions: This was one of very few studies that used structured interviews to examine pathological dissociation in patients with SSDs. The results indicate that pathological dissociation in SSDs is not uncommon. Clinical assessment should include measures of dissociation to facilitate early identification.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma and dissociation among inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in Taiwan

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

Chien

et al. 2022

Self Cite

“…The DES-T is an 8-item subscale of the original DES and can be used to assess pathological dissociation (Bernstein & Putnam, 1986;Waller et al, 1996;Waller & Ross, 1997). The Chinese version of the DES-T is reliable and valid (Fung, Choi et al, 2018) and has been used in previous studies Fung, Ho et al, 2018). The DES-T is calculated by dividing the sum of the item scores divided by the number of items.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SR-DDIS is reliable and valid (Ross & Browning, 2017). The Chinese version of the SR-DDIS has been validated and can discriminate participants with and without a DD (Fung, Choi et al, 2018). Moreover, the validity of the BPD section of the DDIS (i.e., SR-DDIS-BPD) has been examined -it can detect DSM-5 BPD with excellent discriminative validity (Fung, Chan, Lee et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical correlates of hearing voices among people seeking interventions for dissociation: a cross-cultural investigation

Chan

Ross³

2020

Psychosis

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“…As part of a research project (see Fung, Choi, Chan, & Ross, 2018) approved by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) Research Committee, we used online channels (e.g., Facebook, Blogger, mental health groups and forums) to recruit Hong Kong adults who had a clinical diagnosis of depression to complete an online survey. Online methods are promising and cost-effective for health research purposes and can facilitate recruitment and data collection process (Chan, 2013;Chan & Holosko, 2016.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A preliminary study of the clinical differences between dissociative and nondissociative depression in Hong Kong: implications for mental health practice

Social Work in Health Care

Chan

2019

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Depression is a serious public health issue, but not all patients with depression respond well to pharmaceutical treatments. Some scholars suggested that dissociation could be a marker indicating the types of patients with depression that may benefit more from psychosocial interventions than from pharmaceutical treatments. This study explored the possibility to differentiate dissociative depression and nondissociative depression in a clinical sample (N = 68) in the Chinese context, and discusses the potential implications for treatment considerations. Compared with the nondissociative group, the dissociative group reported higher occurrences of psychosocial etiological risk factors (e.g., childhood physical abuse, lack of help from family) and psychosocial-related symptoms (e.g., unstable relations, fear of abandonment, trauma-related flashbacks, somatization symptoms). Our initial findings revealed that patients with dissociative depression appeared to have distinct clinical features and might require more psychosocial interventions. Implications for health care research and practice are discussed.