NCJ Number
225091
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 23 Issue: 7 Dated: October 2008 Pages: 569-575
Date Published
October 2008
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between the dissociative and somatic symptoms in adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA).
Abstract
With the exception of one of the measures of somatization, no significant differences were found between men and women CSA survivors in symptom levels. However, the relationship between somatization and dissociation was stronger in women than in men. The findings do not support the hypothesis that medically unexplained somatic symptoms in general are an integral component of dissociation. Somatization and dissociation scale scores were related but not at a great enough magnitude to suggest that they were part of the same syndrome. The scale was found to be more strongly related to dissociation than any of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory- 2 (MMPI-2) somatization scales in both men and women. Additionally, in women the Pt scale was more strongly related to dissociation than any of the MMPI-2 somatization scales. The findings of this study should be considered preliminary and interpreted with considerable caution, since the scales used probably are of limited validity. Data were collected for 216 women and 35 men entering an outpatient treatment program for CSA survivors within a university-based community mental health center. Participants were over the age of 16, reported having been sexually abused before age 18, and evidenced psychological difficulties consistent with an abuse history. Tables, references