The developmental roots of dissociation: A multiple mediation analysis.

Abstract

difference (see Jurist, in press). As editor of this journal, we shall resist any and all threats to democratic practices, and we will use these pages to affirm, and never retreat from, cherished values like tolerance and diversity. This is a time that demands psychoanalytically informed critical thinking; thus, we welcome submissions that attempt to make sense of our current social, cultural and political environment, and we will be considering further interventions from the journal.

Trauma-Related Dissociation Is Linked With Maladaptive Personality Functioning

“…Such experiences may be encoded and processed at a conscious level, although they also may continue to constitute a source of distress for the individual. Other distressing experiences, which perhaps occurred more frequently, and/or started at an early age generating a maladaptive developmental cascade, and/or were extremely disorganizing, could be instead coded in altered and dissociative states of consciousness, with a stronger influence on the development of maladaptive personality functioning ( 4 , 7 , 13 , 44 , 59 ).…”

“…Even considering its limitations, this study shed some new light on how trauma and dissociation may undermine an individual's personality functioning. From a psychodynamic perspective, clinical work with traumatized patients is aimed at reestablishing the unity and uniqueness of self and personal identity by fostering mentalization, affect regulation, and a basic sense of safety and trust toward interpersonal relationships ( 4 , 10 – 12 , 14 , 16 , 62 – 69 ). So, understanding whether the excessive activation of the dissociative process has been so pervasive for an individual to deviate his or her entire organization of personality is a first step in uncovering the impact (and sometimes even the presence, in some cases of dissociative functioning with severe amnesia) of psychological trauma.…”

Exploring the Link among State of Mind Concerning Childhood Attachment, Attachment in Close Relationships, Parental Bonding, and Psychopathological Symptoms in Substance Users

“…One may wonder why neglectful parental bonding is not related with any psychopathological scale. Following Schimmenti (2016) , a lack of care by the parents is a strong predictor for the development of dissociation since it interferes with the growth of mentalizing ( Schimmenti and Caretti, 2016 ) and theory of mind processing. It is possible that such participants present meta-cognitive deficits in identifying their perception of their own childhood parental style or their psychological state.…”

A New Measure for Assessing Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: The Addictive Behavior Questionnaire (ABQ)

“…This is because the emotional dysregulation resulting from such negative experiences may negatively affect the development of, and interactions among brain structures that are relevant for understanding oneself and one’s own actions, including the hippocampal region involved in the consolidation of memory and the prefrontal cortex involved in executive functioning and decision making, among many other structures damaged by childhood trauma [ 9 ]. Such vulnerability to emotional dysregulation may also become embedded in the individual personality and way of relating with others [ 10 ], thus fostering both severe difficulties in processing and integrating distressing experiences at the mental and bodily level, and severe distrust of others for receiving protective closeness and interpersonal regulation [ 11 ].…”