Fear of happiness among college students: The role of gender, childhood psychological trauma, and dissociation

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the fear of happiness among college students and its relationship to gender, childhood psychological trauma, and dissociation. Setting and Design: College students were addressed as study population, and a relational screening method was implemented. Materials and Methods: Among 184 participants, 93 (50.5%) were women. The Fear of Happiness Scale (FHS), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) were administered to all participants. Statistical Analysis Used: Mann–Whitney-U and Student's t -tests were implemented for comparison of groups. Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify associations between variables. Results: There were no differences on DES, FHS, and CTQ total scores between genders. DES was associated with CTQ total scores in both genders. Women had higher scores than men on childhood emotional abuse and fear of “cheerfulness ends up with bad faith.” Compared to nonmembers, female dissociative taxon members had higher scores on all childhood trauma types except sexual abuse, and on all types of fear of happiness except “good fortune ends up with disaster” which was the only type of fear significantly elevated among male dissociative taxon members. A stepwise regression analysis revealed that depersonalization, childhood emotional neglect, and physical abuse predicted fear of happiness among women which was predicted by absorption among men. Conclusions: There is a relationship between childhood psychological trauma, dissociation, and fear of happiness. Women seem to be more vulnerable in this path of obsessional thinking which affects different realms in male and female genders.

Kadın Üniversite Öğrencilerinde Çocukluk Çağı Travmaları ile Kendine Zarar Verme Davranışları, Depresyon, Psikoform ve Somatoform Dissosiyasyon Arasındaki İlişkilerin İncelenmesi

“…In this study, participants with pathological dissociative experiences represent 22.6% of the entire sample, which is vital for revealing the severity of dissociative reactions in the non-clinical population. Studies conducted with non-clinical samples report that pathological dissociative experiences occur at 5.9-29.0% over a wide extension and our finding is consistent with the research in the literature (Chiu et al, 2016;Fung, Ho, & Ross, 2018;Serrano-Sevillano et al, 2017;Şar, Türk, & Öztürk, 2019).…”

“…Female university students with dissociative experiences at pathological level (those with a total DES score of 30 and above) that can be diagnosed with dissociative disorder report emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect and childhood traumas (CTQ total scores) at higher rates than female university students with non-pathological dissociative experiences (Table 4). Many studies that support these findings are available and it can be stated that emotional abuse and emotional neglect occur at statistically higher rates in individuals with dissociative experiences (Belli et al, 2017;Şar, Türk, & Öztürk, 2019;Vogel et al, 2009;Watson et al, 2006). In this study, participants with pathological dissociative experiences represent 22.6% of the entire sample, which is vital for revealing the severity of dissociative reactions in the non-clinical population.…”

“…Kate, Hopwood & Jamieson (2019) determined that approximately 10% of 25,871 university students had pathological dissociation according to the data average of 66 studies' meta-analysis on dissociative experiences and dissociative disorders in the university population. Referring to the studies in Turkey conducted with university students, DES average score is varied between 12,12 and 24,30, this rate, even though it is below 30 points which point to dissociative experiences in pathological levels, is indicative that dissociative experiences are used in subclinical levels in the process of coping with traumatic experiences of everyday life (Dalbudak et al, 2014;Öztürk, 2020b;Öztürk & Şar, 2008;Şar et al, 2019). The fact that 77.4% (243 people) of the participants in this study were below the DES total score average of 30 is the main indication that the majority of the sample belongs to a non-clinical population in terms of dissociative disorders.…”

Investigation of the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma, Defense Mechanisms and Self-Injury Behaviours in University Students

“…Şar, Türk ve Öztürk tarafından üniversite öğrencileriyle yapılan çalışmada, bulgularımızı destekler nitelikte, duygusal istismarın erkeklere oranla kadınlarda daha fazla görüldüğü saptanmıştır. 73 Alanyazında çocukluk çağı travmalarının cinsiyete göre farklılık gösterip göstermediğine ilişkin genellikle tutarsız çalışmalar mevcuttur. 34,36,[74][75][76] Çocukluk çağı travmalarının cinsiyete göre farklı sonuçlar vermesinde, çocuk yetiştirme stillerinde görülen farklılıkların önemli bir faktör olabileceği düşünülmektedir.…”

Efficacy of mindfulness‐based stress reduction on fear of emotions and related cognitive behavioral processes in Chinese University students: A randomized controlled trial

“…For example, fear of positive feelings involves avoiding these feelings despite having the ability to experience them (e.g., because of the fear something bad will happen) (Gilbert et al, 2012). Fear of happiness seems to be a type of mental operation which tries to avoid emotions overall (Sar et al, 2019). Third, many processes involved in the modulation of emotion undoubtedly are typically automatic, and many of these may be difficult to bring to consciousness or to voluntarily manage (Gross & Thompson, 2007).…”