Psychometrics of Three Dissociation Scales: Reliability and Validity Data on the DESR, DES-II, and DESC.

The current study assessed the reliability and validity of three measures of dissociation. Three hundred students completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale Revised (DESR), the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale Comparison (DESC); an additional 252 community adults evaluated clarity of instructions. Findings revealed that the three dissociation measures showed acceptable test-retest reliability and Cronbach's alphas. The DESR and DES-II strongly intercorrelated, but the DESC correlated only moderately with the two remaining dissociation measures, sharing less than 10% of the variance with the original scale. Additionally, the DESR and DES-II showed stronger convergent validity (correlation with measures of alexithymia and post-traumatic stress disorder) than did the DESC. The DESC was the only measure unrelated to trauma history. Participants reported substantially greater difficulty in understanding and utilizing the metric offered by the DESC. In conclusion, evidence supports the DES-II and DESR as alternate measures, but the DESC requires more investigation.

Relationship of abuse by religious authorities to depression, religiosity, and child physical abuse history in a college sample.

OBJECTIVE: Discussion of sexual abuse by religious authorities has been plagued by allegations of false memories and misreports, often attributed to media attention. An analysis of a historical archive with information on abuse by religious and other authority figures and coexisting psychopathology is extremely useful to the current debate on outcomes of sexual abuse. METHOD: The present study utilizes a database from the late 1970s that contains data on physical abuse and sexual abuse by various perpetrator types as well as on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and religiosity in a college population sample. RESULTS: Students alleging sexual abuse by religious authorities were as symptomatic (depressed and anxious) as students abused by parents and were more symptomatic than controls. Further, those abused by religious authorities showed greater variance in religiosity and a greater likelihood of breaking ties with their religious communities. Students self-labeling as physically abused by parents were more at risk for sexual abuse by religious authorities. CONCLUSIONS: Religious authorities often play complex roles in social and family life. These complexities then may produce parallel complexities in the patterns of symptoms. The intensity of the trauma from abuse by religious authorities may make it more difficult to study, treat, and recover from sexual abuse. Additional research is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Case of fatal familial insomnia caused by a d178n mutation with phenotypic similarity to Hashimoto's encephalopathy.

Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) is a rare prion disease commonly inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern from a mutation in the PRioN Protein (PRNP) gene. Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is characterised by encephalopathy associated with antithyroid peroxidase (TPO) or antithyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies. These two conditions characteristically have differing clinical presentations with dramatically different clinical course and outcomes. Here, we present a case of FFI mimicking HE. A woman in her 50s presented with worsening confusion, hallucinations, tremor and leg jerks. Several maternal relatives had been diagnosed with FFI, but the patient had had negative genetic testing for PRNP. MRI of brain, cervical and thoracic spine were unremarkable except for evidence of prior cervical transverse myelitis. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was normal. Anti-TPO and anti-Tg antibodies were elevated. She was started on steroids for possible HE and showed improvement in symptoms. Following discharge, the results of her PRNP gene test returned positive for variant p.Asp178Asn.