THE IMPACT OF ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES ON DISSOCIATION

The effects of childhood trauma on dissociation has been documented in research, but there are few articles exploring the fine details of the assessments that allow for the examination of this relationship. This study utilized the Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire (ACEQ), the Dissociative Experience Scale II (DESII), and the Dissociative Experience Scale II Taxon (DES-T) to evaluate the relationship between childhood trauma and dissociation in a community outpatient population at a counselor training clinic in Texas. Each subscale of the DESII (ie: amnesia, depersonalization/derealization, and absorption) were included in these analyses, as were all 10 of the individual ACEQ items and its total score. The results of the regression analyses showed the total ACEQ scores were significantly able to predict total DESII scores and DESII amnesia scores. Such results support childhood trauma and dissociation being a part of a standard intake assessment process.