The Finnish version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) and psychiatric distress

Lipsanen, Tapio; Saarijärvi, Simo; Lauerma, Hannu

doi:10.1080/08039480310000211

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The mean age among the total sample was 40.5 years (SD = 12.7). The detailed sample characteristics and sociodemographics of this study are described elsewhere [15]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21) was used as a measure (sum of items) for depression [14]. The Finnish translation of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) was used to measure dissociative symptoms (mean of items) [15]. The 13-item somatization index derived from the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-13) was used as a measure for somatization symptoms [16].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Relations between Depression, Somatization, Dissociation and Alexithymia – Overlapping or Independent Constructs?

2004

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Background: The aim of this study was to extend our knowledge of associations among the constructs of alexithymia, depression, somatization and dissociation. Sampling and Methods: 924 nonclinical subjects answered questions about depression (21-item Beck Depression Inventory), somatization (13-item somatization part of Symptom Check List-90), dissociation (28-item Dissociative Experiences Scale) and alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale). In addition, a 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was administered to detect psychiatric distress among subjects. Results: The results suggested that there was a significant clinical correlation between somatization, dissociation, depression and alexithymia (rho varied from 0.31 to 0.56). The principal component analysis revealed the presence of four components: depression, somatization, dissociation and alexithymia. The use of factor scores diminished the covariance between measures (rho varied from –0.10 to 0.01 between the factor scores). There was almost no correlation between the dissociation factor (rho = 0.06) and alexithymia factor (rho = 0.09) scores and general distress (GHQ-12). Conclusions: This study suggests that while somatization, dissociation, depression and alexithymia are distinct constructs, they correlate to a considerable extent. The use of factor analysis and factor scores should be considered to diminish covariance between the above constructs. Comparing results between factored and unfactored results may prove illuminating. As a case in point, the results suggest that the part of dissociation that coincides with other constructs (overlaps) is associated with distress, whereas the distinct part of dissociation (no shared covariance) is not associated with distress. The same applies to the alexithymia construct. Longitudinal studies are needed to show whether there is a trait such as a relatively stable dissociation component and also whether a separate state-dependent dissociation component exists that is associated with coincident distress, somatization and depression.

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“…The mean age among the total sample was 40.5 years (SD = 12.7). The detailed sample characteristics and sociodemographics of this study are described elsewhere [15]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Relations between Depression, Somatization, Dissociation and Alexithymia – Overlapping or Independent Constructs?

2004

Self Cite

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“…Different studies have obtained solutions with several factors, ranging from one up to seven (Amdur & Liberzon, 1996;I. H. Bernstein, Ellason, Ross, & Vanderlinden, 2001;Dunn, Ryan, & Paolo, 1994;Lipsanen, Saarijärvi, & Lauerma, 2003;Ray, June, Turaj, & Lundy, 1992;Ross, Ellason, & Anderson, 1995;Ross et al, 1990;Sanders & Green, 1994). Using solely the eigenvalues >1 as a criterion for structural extraction could be the reason for these differences (Lipsanen et al, 2003); another explanation is the different samples used (clinical and nonclinical).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Portuguese Validation of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES)

Santo

Abreu

2009

Journal of Trauma & Dissociation

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“…As a whole, the inconsistency in the DES-II factor structure across studies and samples, as well as the high degree of shared variance among the factors, have led some authors to suggest that the instrument may actually capture a unidimensional operationalization of the dissociation construct [6,8,14,26,[29][30][31]. Moreover, such contrasting results raise the possible risk of making misleading inferences about the construct of dissociation based on findings derived from the use of the original subscales reported by Carlson and Putnam [10] using the traditional Classical Test Theory (CTT) approach.…”

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confidence: 99%

Improving the psychometric properties of the dissociative experiences scale (DES-II): a Rasch validation study

et al. 2020

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Background: The Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) is a self-report questionnaire that measures dissociative experiences such as derealization, depersonalization, absorption and amnesia. The DES-II has been prevalently used as a screening tool in patients suffering from psychotic disorders or schizophrenia. However, dissociative experiences can also be part of normal psychological life. Despite its popularity, the most problematic aspect of the DES-II is the inconsistency in its factor structure, which is probably due to the tendency to treat ordinal responses as responses on an interval scale, as it is assumed in the Classical Test Theory approach. In order to address issues related to the inconsistency of previous results, the aim of the present study was to collect new psychometric evidence to improve the properties of the DES-II using Rasch analysis, i.e. analyzing the functioning of the response scale. Methods: Data were obtained on a sample composed by 320 Italian participants (122 inmates and 198 communitydwelling individuals) and were analyzed with the Rasch model. This model allows the estimation of participants' level of dissociation, the degree of misfit of each item, the reliability of each item, and their measurement invariance. Moreover, Rasch estimation allows to determine the best response scale, in terms of response modalities number and their discriminant power. Results: Three items of the scale had strong misfit. After their deletion, the resulting scale was composed by 25 items, which had low levels of misfit and high reliability, and showed measurement invariance. Participants tended to select more often lower categories of the response scale. Conclusions: Results provided new knowledge on the DES-II structure and its psychometric properties, contributing to the understanding and measurement of the dissociation construct.

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The Finnish version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) and psychiatric distress

Cited by 15 publications

References 14 publications

Exploring the Relations between Depression, Somatization, Dissociation and Alexithymia – Overlapping or Independent Constructs?

Exploring the Relations between Depression, Somatization, Dissociation and Alexithymia – Overlapping or Independent Constructs?

Portuguese Validation of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES)

Improving the psychometric properties of the dissociative experiences scale (DES-II): a Rasch validation study

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