Modeling the connection between self-reported trauma and dissociation in a student sample

A sample of 109 undergraduate students completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale and self-report measures on absent-mindedness, fantasy proneness, and childhood trauma. As in previous studies, dissociative tendencies were strongly related to absent-mindedness and fantasy proneness. Also, dissociative symptoms were linked to trauma self-reports. Structural equation modeling analyses showed that both the conventional trauma-dissociation model and an alternative dissociation-trauma model provided an adequate fit to our data. Thus, our results demonstrate that cross-sectional and non-clinical studies relying on self-reports of dissociation and trauma should seriously consider the possibility that dissociation, together with its correlates absent-mindedness and fantasy proneness, contribute to trauma self-reports.