Murphy, Siobhan and Elklit, Ask and Murphy, Jamie and Hyland, Philip and Shevlin, Mark (2017) A Cross‐Lagged Panel Study of Dissociation and Posttraumatic Stress in a Treatment‐Seeking Sample of Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73 (10). pp. 1370-1381. ISSN 0021-9762

Preview

Download (175kB) | Preview

Abstract

Objective The current prospective study assessed the temporal relations between dissociation and posttraumatic stress (PTS) in a sample of treatment‐seeking female survivors of childhood sexual abuse. PTS refers to symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the absence of a clinical diagnosis of PTSD. Method Initial assessment was on average 23 years after the onset of abuse (N = 405), and participants were followed‐up after 6 months (N = 245) and 12 months (N = 119). Results Findings indicated that dissociative experiences and PTS were highly correlated within each wave of data collection. Cross‐lagged panel analysis revealed that at each assessment period dissociative symptoms and PTS levels, respectively, were primarily explained by scores on the same variable at the previous assessment period. Although further reciprocal relations between dissociation and PTS were evident, these associations were relatively weak in magnitude. Conclusion Current results provide important insights into the temporal relations between dissociative symptoms and PTS. The high correlations between dissociative experiences and PTS several years after trauma exposure have important clinical implications that may affect their treatment and trauma recovery.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	childhood sexual abuse (CSA); posttraumatic stress; dissociative symptoms; cross‐lagged analysis; temporal ordering;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	11569
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22439
Depositing User:	Philip Hyland
Date Deposited:	01 Nov 2019 17:13
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Clinical Psychology
Publisher:	Wiley
Refereed:	Yes
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads