Dissociation in Psychiatric Disorders: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Using the Dissociative Experiences Scale

Objective: Dissociation is a complex, ubiquitous construct in psychopathology. Symptoms of dissociation are present in a variety of mental disorders and have been connected to higher burden of illness and poorer treatment response, and not only in disorders with high levels of dissociation. This meta-analysis offers a systematic and evidence-based study of the prevalence and distribution of dissociation, as assessed by the Dissociative Experiences Scale, within different categories of mental disorders, and it updates an earlier meta-analysis. Method: More than 1,900 original publications were screened, and 216 were included in the meta-analysis, comprising 15,219 individuals in 19 diagnostic categories. Results: The largest mean dissociation scores were found in dissociative disorders (mean scores >35), followed by posttraumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, and conversion disorder (mean scores >25). Somatic symptom disorder, substance-related and addictive disorders, feeding and eating disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, OCD, and most affective disorders also showed mean dissociation scores >15. Bipolar disorders yielded the lowest dissociation scores (mean score, 14.8). Conclusions: The findings underline the importance of careful psychopathological assessment of dissociative symptoms in the entire range of mental disorders.