| High and low dissociators in a university sample were compared on various neuropsychological measures of memory functioning as well as clinical features including prior head injury, general mood, and history of trauma and abuse. Dissociator type was determined by the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) score. Participants were 90 students, 45 high and 45 low dissociators (40 males, 50 females). The memory test battery included the Selective Reminding Test (SRT), the Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT), an autobiographical memory test, the word-stem completion test, and the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM). Information regarding general health and life experiences was obtained through use of a Health & Life Events Questionnaire. Gender was included in analysis of all measures.;Results indicated that, although dissociator type (high vs. low) did not significantly affect general memory functioning, gender may affect memory for some autobiographical information. There was no indication that high dissociators were more likely than low dissociators to produce intrusions in verbal material or to exaggerate memory impairment. High dissociators had higher rates of abuse, anxiety, depression, victimization by or witness to crime, problematic drug and alcohol use, and history of self-harm. Women endorsed more symptoms of depression than did men, whereas men had been exposed to more disasters and had more problems with alcohol and drug use than women. Exploration of a possible Amnesia subscale in the DES suggested that individual amnesia items are well-correlated with both the average Amnesia score and with the overall DES score, but that the Amnesia score itself may not be representative of other aspects of dissociation (e.g., imaginative involvement, derealization). Amnesia scores did not correlate consistently with memory test scores; however, certainty for recall of some autobiographical memories decreased as the Amnesia score increased. Amnesia scores are strongly correlated with the Health and Life Events Questionnaire scales. Possible implications of these findings are applied to the ongoing debate regarding the reality of dissociative processes, particularly in cases of alleged "false memories" for past abuse. |
