Journal
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 7, Issue 2, Pages 265-282Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/2167702618804794
Keywords
child abuse; diathesis-stress model; dissociation; self-reference; trauma
Categories
Funding
- Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Chinese University of Hong Kong [4052099]
- Research Grants Council, Early Career Scheme [24618115]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The segregated representations pertinent to childhood relational trauma have long been posited as a key pathogenic mechanism for dissociation. Yet, the weak to moderate correlation of child maltreatment with dissociation proneness leads to the question about which factors may moderate the impact of adverse childhood interpersonal experiences and work synergistically in the genesis of dissociation. We hypothesized that self-referential memory may play a role and that low accessibility to self-referenced representations may obstruct the ongoing synthesis of self representations, leaving these unassimilated early experiences disintegrated and inimical to mental function in response to a stressful situation. This hypothesis was examined by two experiments in college students. The first experiment showed the association between dissociation proneness and low accessibility to self-referenced representations. The second demonstrated that low accessibility to self-referenced representations moderated the link between childhood relational trauma and dissociation proneness. Weakened self-referential memory matters in the link between trauma and dissociation.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available