Symptoms of Dissociation in a High‐Risk Sample of Young Children Exposed to Interpersonal Trauma: Prevalence, Correlates, and Contributors

Abstract

Children who have experienced interpersonal trauma are at an increased risk of developing dissociation; however, little is known about the prevalence or correlates of dissociation in young children. The current study examined symptoms of dissociation in 140 children (mean age = 51.17 months, range = 36-72 months, SD = 10.31 months; 50.0% male; 45.7% Hispanic) who experienced trauma (e.g., witnessing domestic violence, experiencing abuse). Child dissociation and exposure to traumatic events were assessed using a clinician-administered interview with the biological mother (mean age = 32.02 years, SD = 6.13; 49.3% Hispanic; 25.5% married or cohabitating). Mothers completed measures of maternal dissociation, depression/anxiety, and child behavior problems. At least subclinical dissociation was present for 24.3% of children. Robust regression with least trimmed squares estimation showed that greater maternal dissociation was related to greater child dissociation, adjusting for child internalizing symptoms, number of traumas, and maternal depression/anxiety, B = 0.09, χ(2) = 10.47, p < .001, R(2) Δ = .04. Children who experienced direct victimization did not exhibit a significantly higher level of dissociation compared to children who experienced other traumas, F(1, 138) = 3.76, p = .054, η(2) = .03. These findings highlight the need to assess dissociation in traumatized young children.

Cumulative childhood trauma, emotion regulation, dissociation, and behavior problems in school-aged sexual abuse victims

“…While the association between dissociation and behavior problems was less documented than the link with emotion regulation, our results converge with those of Hagan et al (2015), Kisiel andLyons (2001), andRoss-Gower et al (1998), showing that this is a relevant variable to explore when aiming to understand the mechanisms linking cumulative childhood trauma and behavior problems in childhood.…”

“…However, a recent study showed that internalized behavior problems were associated with dissociation over and beyond the effects of maternal dissociation and depression/anxiety, number of traumatic events, and child gender in a sample of preschool children (Hagan et al, 2015). Kisiel and Lyons (2001) found that dissociation mediated the association between CSA and behavior problems in children aged 10-18 years old.…”

When Nowhere Is Safe: Interpersonal Trauma and Attachment Adversity as Antecedents of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Developmental Trauma Disorder

“…Developmental trauma disorder (DTD) has been proposed as an integrative framework for assessing and treating children's emotional, biological, cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, and self/identity dysregulation in the wake of traumatic victimization and disrupted attachment (D'Andrea, Ford, Stolbach, Spinazzola, & van der Kolk, ; Ford et al., ; van der Kolk, ). Intentional acts by other human beings that threaten the life or bodily integrity of children or their primary support systems and caregivers—interpersonal (Hagan, Hulette, & Lieberman, ) or complex (Wamser‐Nanney & Vandenberg, ) trauma—have particularly severe and wide‐ranging adverse effects on children's psychosocial functioning and neurodevelopment (D'Andrea et al., ). Early clinical observations (Pynoos, Steinberg, Ornitz, & Goenjian, ; Terr, ) and prospective studies (Briggs‐Gowan et al., ; Briggs‐Gowan, Carter, & Ford, ; Horan & Widom, ; Widom, Czaja, & Dutton, ; Wilson, Samuelson, Staudenmeyer, & Widom, ) that empirically identified exposure to violence and maltreatment as unique antecedents of severe psychobiological problems independent of sociodemographic risk factors (Kitzmann, Gaylord, Holt, & Kenny, ; Knickerbocker, Heyman, Slep, Jouriles, & McDonald, ) have demonstrated the unique adverse impact of early childhood exposure to interpersonal trauma on development and functioning across the lifespan.…”

A Diagnosis of Denial: How Mental Health Classification Systems Have Struggled to Recognise Family Violence as a Serious Risk Factor in the Development of Mental Health Issues for Infants, Children, Adolescents and Adults

“…The term “life stress” was referred to in Separation Anxiety Disorder; “interpersonal stressors” were referred to in Panic Disorder; the term “negative events in childhood” for Agoraphobia and “stressful life situations” was mentioned in Rumination Disorder. That there is no specific mention of family, domestic or interpersonal violence in childhood within Anxiety Disorders, however, is perplexing given the avalanche of research identifying anxiety in children exposed to family violence [ 4 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 99 , 128 ].…”