BackgroundIn Oman, anecdotal and impressionistic observation have helped parse and categorize various manifestations of spirit possession into two broad and distinct categories: intermittent dissociative phenomenon and transitory dissociative phenomenon. The primary aim of the present study was to compare the performance of participants on neuropsychological tests among different grades of possession. Other correlates were also sought.MethodsAssessment criteria for the two groups included measures examining executive functioning: controlled oral word association test Verbal Fluency, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Perseverative error and the number of categories achieved), Trail Making Test and the Tower of London Test (number of correctly solved problems). Sociodemographic variables and the history of trauma were also sought.ResultAmong 84 participants, one third of them presented the intermittent possession type and two thirds, the transitory possession type. Their mean age was 34.17 ± 11.82 and 56% of them were female. Nearly 35% of them endorsed a history of a traumatic experience. Both the multivariate models showed statistical significance (F (5, 78) = 5.57, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.22), F (5, 78) = 11.38, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.39) with an independent predictor of intermittent dissociative phenomenon (β = − 3.408, p < 0.001), (β = 63.88, p < 0.001) for Verbal Fluency and Trail Making Test, respectively. The history of the traumatic event was also statistically significant with the results of the Trail Making Test (β = − 26.01, p < 0.041. Furthermore, the subtype of Pathogenic Possession turned out to be an independent predictor across all models: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test perseverative error, Wisconsin card sorting test categories achieved and the number of problems solved in the Tower of London Test (OR = 3.70, 95% C.I. 2.97–4.61; p < 0.001), (OR = 0.57, 95% C.I.0.39–0.84; p = 0.004) and (OR = 0.80, 95% C.I. 0.65–0.99; p < 0.037) respectively.ConclusionsThis study suggests that typology of spirit possession found in Oman tends to differ on indices of executive function. Those with ‘diagnosis’ of intermittent possession showed impairment in many indices of executive functioning. Despite its wide prevalence, spirit possession has not been examined in terms of its neuropsychological functioning. We believe that this study will be instrumental in laying the groundwork for a more robust methodology.

Background: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) has been reported from different parts of the world. With regard to countries in the Arabian Gulf, there have been some anecdotal and impressionistic observations of CSA and Oman is no exception. Aims: In order to lay the groundwork for empirical scrutiny of this phenomena, the present study elaborates on the description of the CSA along with exploring the socio-demographic and psychosocial consequences among children with a history of sexual abuse referred to a tertiary care center providing mental services catering to the needs of children and adolescents mental health services (CAMHS). Method: 34 children referred for a one-year period to the CAMHS fulfilled the criteria for inclusion of the study. Socio-demographic, CSA, and psychosocial information were collected for each subject. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore which variables associated with children having depressive symptoms. Result: Majority of children abused were female (64.7%, n ¼ 22), age below 12 years (67.6%, n ¼ 23), and with low family income (85.3%, n ¼ 29). Multivariate analysis shows that CSA and psychological variables were significant risk factors for depression. Children who were penetrative abused were more likely (OR ¼ 24.897, p ¼ 0.044) to have depression than non-penetrative children. Children who reported problems with sleep-wake cycles (OR ¼ 44.636, p ¼ 0.012) were more likely to occurrence of depressive symptoms than children who reported no such problem. Conclusion:The patterns of CSA and its consequences in Oman appears to echo the trends from other parts of the world. As the country is becoming increasingly aware of the international best practice towards CSA, this study will serve as a milestone for more studies in the area using robust methodology.

No abstract

BackgroundThere is a dearth of studies that have explored cognitive performance in different grades of spirit possession.AimThis study was undertaken to investigate two areas: the first was to explore whether there is a difference in demographic characteristics among presently defined grades of spirit possession in Oman: total possession (TP), partial possession (PP) and symbiotic possession (SP) seen in the Omani society. The second was to compare cognitive performance among the different grades of possession. Assessment criteria for these three groups included indices of current nonverbal reasoning ability, attention/concentration and recall, and those measures calling upon executive functioning.ResultsIn terms of socio-demographic characteristics, being female, having low education and being in a particular age group are strongly associated with participants classified as TP. In contrast, the SP group endorsed more history of trauma. The three groups showed performance variation in current nonverbal reasoning ability, attention/concentration and recall, and executive functioning, with TP appearing to have poorer performance on these measures compared to PP and SP.ConclusionPrevious studies have investigated whether spirit possession is a pathological state or a culture-specific idiom of distress. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has examined performances in cognitive measures among different types of possession. The entrance of possession trance disorder and dissociative trance disorder into the psychiatric nomenclature warrants more studies of this nature.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.