Psychometric comparison of Dissociative Experiences Scales II and C: a weak trauma-dissociation link

Lawrence Patihis; Steven Jay Lynn

doi:10.1002/acp.3337

Psychometric comparison of Dissociative Experiences Scales II and C: a weak trauma-dissociation link

Lawrence Patihis^*, Steven Jay Lynn

^*Corresponding author for this work

International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology

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Abstract

The debate regarding the relationship between dissociation and trauma has raised questions regarding the validity of measures of dissociation. Dalenberg et al.'s (2012) meta-analysis included studies using the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES II), but excluded the DES-Comparison (DES-C) scale, claiming that it lacked validity as a measure of dissociation. Lynn et al. (2014) contended that omitting those studies might have skewed the results. In the current study, we compared the psychometric properties of both measures in two nonclinical US adult (student, general population) samples to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. We found support for the DES-II as a measure of dissociation as well as the validity and reliability of the DES-C, which compares well to the DES II. Compared with studies in Dalenberg et al., we found lower correlations between trauma and dissociation. No empirical basis exists to exclude studies using the DES-C in literature reviews.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	392-403
Number of pages	12
Journal	Applied Cognitive Psychology
Volume	31
Issue number	4
Early online date	12 Jul 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3337
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2017

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10.1002/acp.3337

Psychometric comparison of dissociative experiences
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Patihis, L., and Lynn, S. J. ( 2017) Psychometric Comparison of Dissociative Experiences Scales II and C: A Weak Trauma-Dissociation Link. Appl. Cognit. Psychol., 31: 392– 403, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3337. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
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Psychometric comparison of Dissociative Experiences Scales II and C: a weak trauma-dissociation link

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