The impact of childhood and adult trauma on the use of dissociation by adult men

Dissociation has an extensive history in psychology. It's described in DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 477) as "...a disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment". Dissociation can range from normative (driving for miles without remembering what you saw or did) to severe dissociative identity disorder, where traumatic material is separated into individual alters (personalities). Terms like "battle fatigue" have described the impact of combat on soldiers, and dissociation can be an important component of this response. Recent trauma research suggests that severe or chronic childhood trauma may produce dissociation and be a precursor to adult pathology.; This study looked at the connection between dissociation used as a coping mechanism by male veterans and the trauma they experienced as children and/or adults. The hypotheses were: (a) trauma during childhood and adulthood will be positively related to the use of dissociation, and childhood trauma will be a stronger predictor than will adult trauma; (b) the proportion of veterans using dissociation as a coping mechanism will be greater for men with childhood trauma than for those with adult trauma; and (c) men with PTSD will use more dissociation than men without PTSD. The protocol included completing seven questionnaires, followed by an in-depth interview. The sample size was limited to sixteen men because of several uncontrollable factors.; The quantitative data were analyzed using multiple correlation/regression techniques; the interviews and other data were analyzed using qualitative methods. No hypotheses were supported, possibly because of the limited sample size. Substantial amounts of trauma were reported, both in childhood and adulthood. High levels of dissociative symptoms were also described. The group with dissociation scores above the cut-off used in the research had scores consistent with those found in the literature for people with PTSD or dissociative disorders; the scores were higher than for people with schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, or anxiety disorders. This finding has significant implications to consider during therapy with veterans from similar backgrounds.