Complex trauma and intimate relationships: The impact of shame, guilt and dissociation

Dorahy, Martin J.; Corry, Mary; Shannon, Maria; Webb, Kevin; McDermott, Brian; Ryan, Margaret; Dyer, Kevin

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.10.010

Cited by 120 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This latter predictor assessed whether dissociation moderated any relationships found between shame and relationship variables. Complex PTSD, trait guilt and child abuse severity are related to pathological dissociation and trait shame (Dorahy et al, 2013;Herman, 2011;Talbot et al, 2004). Thus, to isolate more fully the effects of shame and dissociation on relationship self-concept, complex PTSD symptoms without the dissociation items, trait guilt, and total child abuse scores were entered in the first step of the hierarchical regressions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet little empirical work has collectively examined pathological dissociation, shame and relationship self-concept in severe DDs, or assessed how dissociation and shame might predict self-concept ("how a person describes and feels about him/herself", Hinde et al, 2001, p. 189) in relationships (i.e., relationship self-concept). The current study extends on previous work in complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Dorahy et al, 2013) by addressing these issues in a DDs sample largely made up of participants with dissociative identity disorder (DID), and two psychiatric comparison groups reporting child abuse and neglect histories.…”

mentioning

confidence: 86%

“…For example, whether intimate relationships preoccupy their thinking, whether they feel anxiety in, or depressed about, their intimate relationships, or whether they fear intimate connexion (Snell et al, 1996). In a complex PTSD sample, dissociation was associated with relationship preoccupation and fear of relationships (Dorahy et al, 2013). Complex PTSD symptom severity predicted relationship anxiety, relationship depression and fear of relationships.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…In traumatized samples, shame has been associated with heightened feelings of disconnectedness in relationships (Budden, 2009;Dorahy, 2010;Lee et al, 2001). Interestingly however, in a sample with chronic PTSD associated with civil conflict, shame was not found to predict markers of relationship self-concept (e.g., fear of relationships, relationship depression) when complex trauma symptoms and dissociation were included (Dorahy et al, 2013). Yet, avoidance as a way of managing shame was a unique predictor of fear of relationships in this sample.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Complex PTSD symptoms manifest as alterations in numerous basic psychobiological processes (Pelcovitz et al, 1997) associated with affect regulation (e.g., impulsivity, self harm), attention/consciousness (i.e., dissociation), selfperception (e.g., shame, guilt), relationships with others (e.g., mistrust), somatic functioning (e.g., psychosomatic pain) and meaning in life (e.g., despair at future). Dorahy et al (2013) did not parcel out the dissociation symptoms from the other complex PTSD symptoms when examining the predictive power of the severity of complex PTSD and dissociative symptoms on various aspects of relationship self-concept.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Dissociation, shame, complex PTSD, child maltreatment and intimate relationship self-concept in dissociative disorder, chronic PTSD and mixed psychiatric groups

Dorahy

Middleton

Seager

et al. 2015

Journal of Affective Disorders

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tBackground: Whilst a growing body of research has examined dissociation and other psychiatric symptoms in severe dissociative disorders (DDs), there has been no systematic examination of shame and sense of self in relationships in DDs. Chronic child abuse often associated with severe DDs, like dissociative identity disorder, is likely to heighten shame and relationship concerns. This study investigated complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), borderline and Schneiderian symptoms, dissociation, shame, child abuse, and various markers of self in relationships (e.g., relationship esteem, relationship depression, fear of relationships). Methods: Participants were assessed via clinical interview with psychometrically sound questionnaires. They fell into three diagnostic groups, dissociative disorder (n ¼ 39; primarily dissociative identity disorder), chronic PTSD (Chr-PTSD; n ¼13) or mixed psychiatric presentations (MP; n ¼ 21; primarily mood and anxiety disorders). All participants had a history of child abuse and/or neglect, and the groups did not differ on age and gender. Results: The DD group was higher on nearly all measured variables than the MP group, and had more severe dissociative, borderline and Schneiderian symptoms than the Chr-PTSD sample. Shame and complex PTSD symptoms fell marginally short of predicting reductions in relationship esteem, pathological dissociative symptoms predicted increased relationship depression, and complex PTSD symptoms predicted fear of relationships. Limitations: The representativeness of the samples was unknown. Conclusion: Severe psychiatric symptoms differentiate DDs from chronic PTSD, while dissociation and shame have a meaningful impact on specific markers of relationship functioning in psychiatric patients with a history of child abuse and neglect.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 86%

mentioning

confidence: 88%

mentioning

confidence: 97%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations