This study examined autobiographical reasoning and three aspects of global coherence (i.e. temporal, causal-motivational, thematic) of life narratives in individuals with dissociative identity disorder (DID) assessed in both adult and child identity states (n = 13), a psychotic disorder (n = 18), general population adults (n = 49) and children (n = 26), and adults simulating being a child (n = 23). DID participants did not significantly differ between identity states in narrative coherence or autobiographical reasoning if additional predictors were included, although differences in causal-motivational coherence were found if total number of memories in the life-narrative was low. Both DID and psychosis groups displayed less temporal and causal-motivational coherence than non-psychiatric adults, with DID adults also showing less thematic coherence. Individuals with DID in child states demonstrated less temporal coherence than non-clinical child-simulators. Individuals with DID may have reduced coherence of narrative identity that does not differ between identities.

Maladaptive daydreaming is a distinct syndrome in which the main symptom is excessive vivid fantasising that causes clinically significant distress and functional impairment in academic, vocational and social domains. Unlike normal daydreaming, maladaptive daydreaming is persistent, compulsive and detrimental to one's life. It involves detachment from reality in favour of intense emotional engagement with alternative realities and often includes specific features such as psychomotor stereotypies (e.g. pacing in circles, jumping or shaking one's hands), mouthing dialogues, facial gestures or enacting fantasy events. Comorbidity is common, but existing disorders do not account for the phenomenology of the symptoms. Whereas non-specific therapy is ineffective, targeted treatment seems promising. Thus, we propose that maladaptive daydreaming be considered a formal syndrome in psychiatric taxonomies, positioned within the dissociative disorders category. Maladaptive daydreaming satisfactorily meets criteria for conceptualisation as a psychiatric syndrome, including reliable discrimination from other disorders and solid interrater agreement. It involves significant dissociative aspects, such as disconnection from perception, behaviour and sense of self, and has some commonalities with but is not subsumed under existing dissociative disorders. Formal recognition of maladaptive daydreaming as a dissociative disorder will encourage awareness of a growing problem and spur theoretical, research and clinical developments.

This article uses two paradigmatic case studies to build on the theories of intergenerational and collective trauma to argue that dissociation should be a key target of prevention strategies for gender-based violence. To illustrate this point, we draw on the life histories of two Australian grandmothers, Kylie and Louise, who described how abuse in early childhood shaped their experiences of violence in adulthood, which in turn impacted their children and, consequently, their grandchildren. We trace the parallels and intersections between individual and collective trauma through their narratives, as well as the silencing of these traumas, with a focus on how children and women are forced to adapt to gender-based violence in the context of collective forgetting and dissociative responses embedded in communities and institutions. We identify a dialectic relationship between individual and collective dissociation, whereby dissociogenic communities and institutions with entrenched defense mechanisms against the recognition of gender-based violence force victims to dissociate at the individual level, thus maintaining collective dissociative structures while increasing the risk of future victimization for women and their children. We argue that the primary prevention of gender-based violence would be enhanced by addressing the prevalence and burden of trauma for affected individuals and families, thereby interrupting intergenerational transmission and addressing the dissociative underpinnings of collective failures to protect women and children from violence.

OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to explore the experience of therapists whose clients report incestuous abuse continuing into adulthood. METHOD:Ten Australian therapist-participants were recruited through professional forums. After giving informed consent, they completed a semistructured interview. Therapists were asked about their experiences of providing therapy to people who disclosed incestuous abuse that continued into adulthood and their experiences of training, peer support, and supervision in relation to these cases. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, labeled with a pseudonym, and deidentified. The transcripts were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis (TA) following the guidelines of Braun and Clarke (2006, 2022). RESULTS:The study found that three overarching themes described the therapeutic experience and response to this client group: (1) the therapist's emotional distress, vicarious traumatization, and moral injury at the extent of abuse and suffering disclosed by the client; (2) the need to adjust therapeutic goals and their reactions to this; and (3) feelings of professional isolation and a lack of support within mainstream services. CONCLUSIONS:The study describes therapeutic experience of a sample of practitioners and concludes that this work is distressing and demanding, requiring therapists to find their own coping methods, training, and supervision. The study points to needs for changes in practitioner training, service delivery, and policy to enable more holistic care of clients reporting complex ongoing abuse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Prolonged incest, where children are sexually abused by familial perpetrators into adulthood, has been documented in clinical and criminological scholarship, however it is often overlooked in research, policy and practice approaches to familial sexual abuse. This article draws on interviews with ten Australian therapists about their clinical work with clients subject to incestuous abuse continuing into adulthood. It outlines their descriptions of these cases, the nature of the reported abuse and factors that facilitated prolonged and ongoing incest, including at the time of therapy. The therapists and their clients were female. The clients were highly dissociative and experienced significant psychiatric and medical comorbidity, and extensive socio-economic disadvantage. Reported abuse was sadistic, ongoing, often involved multiple perpetrators, and sometimes had links to organized abuse. Therapists' conceptualizations of the factors related to the abuse included: enmeshed and disorganized attachment to the perpetrator; symptoms of severe dissociation; having absent, abusive or non-protective mothers; and social isolation which limited help-seeking. The study concludes that attachment, trauma and dissociation-informed therapy is essential, while further research is needed to further explore effective interventions and responses to this clinical cohort.

OBJECTIVES:Dissociative identity disorder (DID) and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) share some overlapping phenomenological features making accurate diagnosis more difficult. Childhood abuse and depersonalization have been associated with psychotic symptoms across psychological disorders but their relationship to psychotic phenomenology remains understudied.METHOD:The present study used quantitative measures to examine (1) similarities and differences in phenomenological voice hearing experiences, interpretations of voices, and thought disorder symptoms in individuals with DID (n = 44) or SSD (n = 45), and (2) whether depersonalization and childhood maltreatment influenced the initial pattern of findings.RESULTS:DID participants perceived their voices as being more internally located and generated, louder, and uncontrollable than SSD participants. Furthermore, the DID participants endorsed a greater frequency of thought disorder symptoms. Adding the covariates (sex, depersonalization, and child maltreatment) did not change the findings associated with location and origin of voices, and derailment, but there were now no differences in loudness or controllability. However, the schizophrenia sample reported more distress and metaphysical beliefs associated with voices, as well as more thought disorder incoherence and word substitution with the covariates controlled.CONCLUSION:While tentative, metaphysical interpretations of voices, incoherent thoughts and word substitution may reflect more psychotic processes.

Some evidence in non-clinical groups suggests that the relationship context in which dissociation is experienced might moderate its association with shame. The current study used vignettes detailing either dissociative symptoms or the expression of sadness occurring in three different relationship contexts: with a friend, an acquaintance, or when alone. Ratings of emotional (e.g. shame, anxiety) and behavioral (e.g. leave, talk) reactions were made on single-item measures, and shame feelings were further assessed with the State Shame Scale. Participants were in treatment for either dissociative identity disorder (n = 31) or other specified dissociative disorder (n = 3; N = 34). Feelings of shame were elevated in the acquaintance condition compared to when with a close friend or alone regardless of whether dissociation or sadness was experienced. In the acquaintance context, participants exposed to dissociation or sadness reported feeling annoyed at themselves, having a greater desire to leave, and a lesser desire to talk compared to when these experiences happened with a close friend or alone. Results suggest those with a dissociative disorder appraise themselves as more vulnerable to shame if experiencing dissociation or sadness when with an acquaintance, potentially because the risk of not being understood and rejected is heightened.

Objective: Discontinuities in memory are the hallmark symptoms of most dissociative disorders but are also reported by patients diagnosed with related disorders, including PTSD. Memory discontinuity is most evident in dissociative identity disorder (DID), where patients may report amnesia in 1 identity for information available in other identities (i.e., interidentity amnesia). Studies indicate that even though patients subjectively report interidentity amnesia for material learned in, or pertaining to, another identity, objective findings show evidence of transfer of that material between identities. Subjective reports of dissociative amnesia may be explained by specific dissociation-related metamemory beliefs, which hinder voluntary retrieval, personal acknowledgment, and processing of memories. This study aimed to develop a questionnaire indexing metamemory beliefs related to trait dissociation. Method: Two studies in nonclinical populations provided information about the factor structure (Studies 1 and 2) of the newly developed Dissociation-related Beliefs about Memory Questionnaire (DBMQ). Information was also provided about the construct validity (Studies 2 and 3), and reliability of the scale (all 3 studies) in nonclinical as well as a clinical population. Results: Results indicated sound psychometric properties of a short 16-item DBMQ with subscales assessing Fragmentation, Positive beliefs about amnesia, Lack of self-reference, and Fear of losing control, and correlations specifically with trait dissociation and posttraumatic avoidance symptoms. A sample of DID patients (N = 19) showed increased scores on the DBMQ. Conclusion: The DBMQ provides a short, reliable, and valid tool for indexing dissociation-related metamemory beliefs. These beliefs were associated with trait dissociation and posttraumatic avoidance symptoms. Clinical Impact Statement Dissociative symptoms are common in people reporting exposure to traumatic stress. For instance, people report amnesia for (parts of) their trauma history. Beliefs about the way memory works and beliefs related to fears of overwhelming emotion related to past memories may be an important factor explaining the occurrence and/or maintenance of reported memory problems. This paper reports the development of a questionnaire designed to assess beliefs about memory functioning with regard to dissociation. We found that a short questionnaire (16 items) could reliably measure these beliefs. These beliefs were associated with trait dissociation and posttraumatic avoidance symptoms.

This Australian study examined 310 respondents??? retrospective reports about the quality of their relationship with their caregivers during their childhood to identify the dynamics that predict clinical levels of dissociation in adulthood. The sample comprised 277 university participants and 32 inpatients and outpatients receiving treatment for a dissociative disorder. The authors developed the 32-item parent-child dynamics questionnaire (PCD-Q) to understand and identify aspects of the relational dynamics and home environment that give rise to dissociation. The PCD-Q demonstrated excellent internal reliability and effectively differentiated between groups with different levels of dissociation. For females in the university sample, parent-child dynamics were clearly positive for 186 non-dissociative controls, mildly positive for the 27 individuals with elevated levels of dissociation consistent with a dissociative disorder or PTSD, and mildly negative for the 26 with clinical levels of dissociation, whereas the 30 females in the clinical group experienced clearly negative dynamics. The PCD-Q demonstrated protective factors from dissociation as parental care, being able to seek comfort, and developing self-esteem and self-worth; experiences of safety (absence of unpredictable parental behaviour, powerlessness and control, unfairness, secrecy, isolation, and dysfunction), and feeling seen and being supported on the road to independence. Nineteen items (59%) had large effect sizes, and 11 items (34%) had medium effect sizes. In males, despite the small sample, significant differences were found between the 34 controls and 12 dissociators for half the PCD-Q items. The findings suggest parent-child dynamics may be equally as influential as trauma in the aetiology of dissociation. ?? 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The Australian history of the false memory (FM) movement has similarities to that of the UK and America, but also important differences that are rarely described in the literature. This article, through an examination of cross-discipline professional literature, media reports, and the personal observations of the second author, describes the history of the FM Movement in Australia and outlines similarities and differences between Australia, the UK and America. All three countries experienced the establishment of false memory syndrome (FMS) societies and a backlash against those reporting or treating child sexual abuse (CSA). However, in Australia the backlash was notably smaller and led to a different trajectory for those reporting CSA, particularly institutional abuse. The authors propose that this is due to differences in the media and legal systems; the later timing of the backlash in Australia; and a more muted reporting of satanic ritual abuse (SRA), which avoided the extreme disbelief and backlash that occurred in other countries.

Previous research has shown that the relationship between childhood abuse and the presence of auditory hallucinations is mediated by dissociation, specifically depersonalization and absorption. The current study assessed dissociation as a mediator of the relationship between childhood abuse and auditory hallucination frequency, characteristics and associated distress in those with dissociative identity disorder (DID; n = 50) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD; n = 49). It also tested whether dissociation mediated the relationship between childhood abuse and the presence of non-auditory hallucinations. Participants completed measures of childhood abuse, dissociation, auditory hallucination frequency, characteristics, distress, and non-auditory hallucinations. With distress associated with auditory hallucinations as the outcome, depersonalization was a mediator in the DID group. For non-auditory hallucinations, in the DID group depersonalization and amnesia were mediators between childhood abuse and the presence of visual, tactile and olfactory hallucinations. In the SSD group absorption mediated between childhood abuse and visual, olfactory and gustatory hallucinations. Results suggest that the presence of non-auditory hallucinations in DID and SSD are associated with different dissociative experiences.

Dissociative experiences have been associated with diachronic disunity. Yet, this work is in its infancy. Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is characterized by different identity states reporting their own relatively continuous sense of self. The degree to which patients in dissociative identity states experience diachronic unity (i.e., sense of self over time) has not been empirically explored. This study examined the degree to which patients in dissociative identity states experienced diachronic unity. Participants were DID adults (n=14) assessed in adult and child identity states, adults with a psychotic illness (n=19), adults from the general population (n=55), children from the general population (n=26) and adults imagining themselves as children (n=23). They completed the Diachronic Disunity Scale (DDS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), and the Self-Concept Clarity Scale (SCCS). Diachronic disunity was not limited to psychiatric groups, but evident to some degree in all adult and child samples. The DID adult sample experienced more dissociation and self-confusion than the psychosis and adult comparison groups, but did not differ on the diachronic measure. DID patients in their child identity states and child comparisons showed disunity and were significantly different from child simulators, who showed relatively more unity. Results suggest that DID patients in either adult or child dissociative identity states, like those in other samples, do not universally experience themselves as having a consistent sense of self over time.

This Australian study explores a person's self-reported exposure to childhood abuse to identify the characteristics that are predictive of clinical levels of dissociation in adulthood. The final sample comprised 303 participants, including 26 inpatients and outpatients (24 females and two males) receiving treatment for a dissociative disorder (DD), and 277 university participants, including 220 controls (186 females, 34 males), 31 with elevated levels of dissociation consistent with a DD or posttraumatic stress disorder (27 females and four males), and 26 with clinical levels of dissociation (20 females and six males). The findings demonstrate clinical levels of dissociation and DDs occur in individuals reporting a history of childhood abuse, particularly sexual abuse and experiences that are potentially life-threatening to a child, such as choking, smothering, and physical injury that breaks bones or teeth, or that compromise the child's survival needs, including threats of abandonment and deprivation of basic needs. Females who disclosed being sexual abused in addition to being choked or smothered had a 106-fold risk of clinical levels of dissociation. As expected, self-reported amnesia was prevalent in the dissociative groups. Yet, even in the control group, one-third of those disclosing sexual abuse reported an unclear memory of it. Strong similarities in abuse experiences were found between the clinical sample and those in the university sample with clinical levels of dissociation (which is unlikely to have previously been diagnosed). The dissociative groups reported higher rates of corroboration of their abusive experiences. The findings support the traumatic etiology of dissociation.

Amnesia is a core diagnostic criterion for Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), however previous research has indicated memory transfer. As DID has been conceptualised as being a disorder of distinct identities, in this experiment, behavioral tasks were used to assess the nature of amnesia for episodic 1) self-referential and 2) autobiographical memories across identities. Nineteen DID participants, 16 DID simulators, 21 partial information, and 20 full information comparison participants from the general population were recruited. In the first study, participants were presented with two vignettes (DID and simulator participants received one in each of two identities) and asked to imagine themselves in the situations outlined. The second study used a similar methodology but with tasks assessing autobiographical experience. Subjectively, all DID participants reported amnesia for events that occurred in the other identity. On free recall and recognition tasks they presented a memory profile of amnesia similar to simulators instructed to feign amnesia and partial information comparisons. Yet, on tests of recognition, DID participants recognized significantly more of the event that occurred in another identity than simulator and partial information comparisons. As such, results indicate that the DID performance profile was not accounted for by true or feigned amnesia, lending support to the idea that reported amnesia may be more of a perceived than actual memory impairment.

Firmly held beliefs that have a delusional quality are commonly experienced in those with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and have been reported in those with dissociative identity disorder (DID). However, no study to date has compared delusional belief content and characteristics between these diagnostic groups. This study examined delusional content, and the degree of conviction, preoccupation and distress associated with them in 50 participants with DID and 50 with an SSD exploring also dissociation and childhood trauma as predictors of delusional beliefs. Multivariate analysis of variance and linear regressions were conducted to explore differences between beliefs and characteristics and to examine their association with dissociation and childhood trauma. The SSD sample presented more self-referential delusional beliefs and characteristics compared to the DID group. Yet, the DID group had more mistrust delusional beliefs and characteristics in comparison to SSD participants. Mistrust beliefs were predicted by depersonalization/derealization in the DID sample, but did not predict any delusional belief in the SSD sample. The content of fixed beliefs differs between DID and SSD samples and in this study depersonalization/derealization experiences were related to mistrust beliefs but not to other delusional forms, and only in the DID sample.