Childhood traumatization and dissociative experiences among maladaptive and normal daydreamers in a Hungarian sample.

The aim of the study was to identify some potential etiological segments of maladaptive daydreaming, especially the relationships between maladaptive daydreaming, childhood traumatization, and dissociative propensity. The questionnaire package included the Hungarian version of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale, the Traumatic Antecedents Questionnaire, as well as the Dissociation Questionnaire. 717 participants were recruited online, 106 of whom were problematic daydreamers. The results revealed that certain types of childhood trauma occurred significantly more frequently in the group of maladaptive daydreamers. Furthermore, maladaptive daydreamers possessed a significantly higher level of dissociative propensity compared to normal daydreamers. The estimated SEM models showed that dissociative experiences - more precisely Identity confusion and fragmentation and Lack of control - mediated the relationship between certain childhood traumatic experiences and maladaptive daydreaming. The results suggest that we should consider childhood traumatization and increased dissociative propensity as potentially significant factors in the etiology of maladaptive daydreaming.

Characteristics and Development of Nonsuicidal Super Self-Injury among Borderline Inpatients.

BACKGROUND: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a key feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), which is strongly associated with childhood traumatization. To the best of our knowledge, there has been a lack of studies investigating extensively the characteristics of borderline patients who engage in extremely high numbers of NSSI, and their features of NSSI, trauma history and psychopathology. The aim of this study is to identify groups of borderline inpatients on the basis of the lifetime number of NSSI, and to explore the characteristics of these groups regarding the onset, reasons and methods of NSSI, history of childhood traumatization, and severity of psychopathology. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 80 psychiatric inpatients with BPD were included in the study, of whom 63 had a history of NSSI and 17 had not. The frequency and characteristics of NSSI were assessed by the Ottawa Self-Injury Inventory and the childhood traumatization were assessed by the Traumatic Antecedents Questionnaire and the Early Trauma Inventory. RESULTS: In this study among self-injuring borderline inpatients a super self-injuring group was identified, who engaged in extremely high numbers of NSSI (75.0±28.4 acts/lifetime). Compared to moderate self-injurers, super self-injurers began harming themselves at a younger age (p=0.008), used more severe forms of NSSI, and all of them reported an anti-dissociation function of NSSI. Adverse childhood experiences were more prevalent in the super self-injuring group. The strongest predictors of the lifetime number of NSSI were early sexual abuse (p<0.001), intrafamilial physical abuse (p<0.001), a higher cumulative trauma score (p=0.030) and a greater number of BPD criteria (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the frequency of NSSI in borderline inpatients can be seen as an indicator of clinically-relevant anamnestic data, namely, of the severity, complexity and onset of childhood traumatization, and of the severity of current borderline psychopathology.

[Childhood traumatization, dissociation and nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior in borderline personality disorder]. / Gyermekkori traumatizáció, disszociáció és szándékos fizikai önsérto viselkedés borderline személyiségzavarban.

INTRODUCTION: Childhood traumatization plays a significant role in the etiology of borderline personality disorder. Studies found a significant association between childhood traumatization, dissociation, and nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior. AIM: The aim of our study was to assess dissociation and nonsuicidal self-injury among borderline inpatients and to reveal the association between childhood traumatization, dissociation, and self-injurious behavior. METHOD: The sample consisted of 80 borderline inpatients and 73 depressed control patients. Childhood traumatization, dissociation and self-injurious behavior were assessed by questionnaires. RESULTS: Borderline patients reported severe and multiplex childhood traumatization. Cumulative trauma score and sexual abuse were the strongest predictors of dissociation. Furthermore, we have found that cumulative trauma score and dissociation were highly predictive of self-injurious behavior. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that self-injurious behavior and dissociation in borderline patients can be regarded as indicators of childhood traumatization. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(19): 740-747.

[Traditional and modern views of dissociation]. / A disszociacio hagyomanyos es uj megkozelitese.

Dissociation is a failure to integrate aspects of identity, memory, perception, and consciousness. Dissociation is conceptualized as a dimensional process existing along a continuum from normal and relatively common dissociative experiences to severe and clinically relevant forms. There is a growing body of clinical and empirical evidence that dissociation may occur especially as a defense during trauma. In case of traumatic events dissociation considered as an attempt to maintain mental control just as physical control is lost. Dissociation can be either a symptom of some complex mental disorder or a distinct clinical entity categorized among dissociative and somatoform disorders in DSM-IV. The article describes the conceptual issues of dissociation and presents a new classification by Nijenhuis where the so-called somatoform dissociative symptoms are included as well in the list of dissociative symptoms. Finally, this paper summarizes the measures of dissociative phenomena and the cognitive-behavioral approaches of dissociation, and highlights the main features of the new structural dissociation model.