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| 2. |
- Cardeña, Etzel, et al.
(författare)
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A Network Analysis to Identify Associations between PTSD and Dissociation among Teenagers
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Trauma & Dissociation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1529-9732 .- 1529-9740. ; 23:4, s. 432-450
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We conducted a network analysis of measures of dissociation and posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) with a varied sample of adolescents (N = 312), some of them previously exposed to war scenarios. The global measure of dissociation (A-DES) was uniquely linked to the arousal PTS symptom cluster (CRIES-13), in particular sleep problems, but not to the reexperiencing and avoidance clusters. Three of four (i.e., depersonalization/derealization, amnesia, mental partition/compartmentalization) dissociation clusters were uniquely linked to PTS severity, but not absorption. The results with the pooled groups were generally representative of both groups. The DP/DR relation to PTS was based on data from both samples, whereas the link between amnesia and partition/parts might have been driven by the normative group, although the refugee sample had significantly higher scores in those variables. The results replicate some previous findings with adult samples and suggest new paths for research and theory.
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| 3. |
- Gusic, Sabina, et al.
(författare)
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Adolescents’ Dissociative Experiences: the Moderating Role of Type of Trauma and Attachment Style
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1936-1521 .- 1936-153X. ; 9, s. 341-351
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This cross-sectional study evaluated the selfreportedattachment style of 239 Swedish adolescents (ages13 to 20) and investigated the relation between dissociation,attachment, and potentially traumatic events (PTEs). We hadhypothesized that specific PTEs, including family-relatedemotional and physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotionalabuse by non-relatives such as bullying, would interact withinsecure attachment styles leading to higher levels of dissociation.Results show that insecure attachment styles predicteddissociative experiences (DE) independently of PTE exposure.Dissociative experiences related more strongly to PTEexposure when the adolescent had an anxious attachmentstyle. Our results also suggest that higher rates of DE arerelated to an interaction between insecure attachment stylesand the experience of verbal harassment and bullying, mainlyby peers in school. We conclude that the relation betweentrauma and dissociation is complex, with both type of traumaand attachment style interacting with dissociative phenomena.
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| 4. |
- Gušić, Sabina, et al.
(författare)
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Dissociative Experiences and Trauma Exposure Among Newly Arrived and Settled Young War Refugees
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1092-6771 .- 1545-083X. ; 26:10, s. 1132-1149
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- War-traumatized refugee adolescents are a vulnerable and understudied group. This study of two different groups of war-traumatized youth (N = 77) resettled in Sweden (newly arrived refugee adolescents, n = 42, 13–19 years, and settled students with childhood war experiences, n = 35, 11–18 years) evaluated their war experiences, refugee journey, general trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and dissociative experiences. Both groups had experienced many traumas and a substantial proportion reported levels consistent with posttraumatic stress (71% in the newly arrived group and 34% among the settled students) and dissociation (36% and 23%, respectively). The study also provides information about the type of adverse events experienced by war-refugee adolescents, including their own subjective appraisals of the worst events. The results show that the extent of trauma exposure and posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology among refugee adolescents are considerable even after a period of resettlement, a finding that has educational, clinical, and social implications.
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| 5. |
- Gusic, Sabina
(författare)
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“I feel like I do not exist” : Adolescent Dissociative Experiences and the Importance of Trauma Type, Attachment, and Migration Background
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- After experiencing potentially traumatic events (PTEs) some adolescents develop pathological dissociation. Trauma-related dissociation can be described as a break-down of the individual’s capacity to integrate emotions, thoughts, sensations, and memories about traumatic or other events into an adaptive and coherent self-image and self-narrative. Dissociative experiences (DE) include experienced loss of control over mental processes or information, and experiential detachment, beyond what would be expected in relation to the person’s cognitive development. This dissertation sought to investigateDE and their relation to trauma type, attachment style, and experiences of war and migration among adolescents. Study I and II included a sample of non-clinical Swedish adolescents with socioeconomic and migration background diversity, representing the demographics of larger Swedish cities. Study III and IV included two samples of war-exposed refugee adolescents resettled in Sweden. The dissertation studies used quantitative and qualitative methodologies to enhance the breadth, depth, and ecological validity in this research area.Study I evaluated the prevalence of DE among Swedish adolescents with a high proportion of migration-background. Self reported economical vulnerability and parental war-experiences related to higher dissociation. The study also showed that emotional abuse, specifically bullying by school peers, related more strongly to DE than psychical abuse. Finally, adolescent girls appraising primarily emotional experiences as their worst lifetime traumas (e.g., bullying, separation, or living with a severely sick family member) had the highest DE rates in relation to overall PTE exposure, as opposed to those that reported a primarily physical experience as the worst trauma, or those with no worst trauma. This pattern wasnot found in boys.Study II showed that self-reported attachment anxiety and/or avoidance related more strongly to DE than PTE exposure alone. Furthermore, insecure anxious attachment styles enhanced the relation between overall PTE exposure and DE, and adolescents reporting an insecure attachment style and the experience of emotional abuse, such as bullying, had the strongest relation between PTE exposure and DE. Study III provides rates of general and war/refugee specific PTEs, worst lifetime experiences, posttraumatic stress reactions, and DE among two groups of refugee adolescents in Sweden: newly arrived and students with childhood war experiences. Both groups of war-exposed youth reported considerable rates of PTEs, DE, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, with the newly arrived reporting more caregiver abuse and adverse events during the refugee journey.Study IV includes newly arrived war-exposed refugee youth’s narratives of their mental experiences related to dissociation. This study showed that high dissociators reported qualitatively different experiences including frightening loss of control, detachment, high frequency and severity of emotional dysregulation and emotional intensity, negative self- and bodyperception and a pervasive depressive mood. Two types of dissociation, a dimensional one and a separate pathological type, were found among the dissociating refugee adolescents, and seem to incorporate somewhat different experiences.The results of this dissertation expand our knowledge by showing that factors such as economical vulnerability, migration background, type of traumas experienced and appraised as the most negative, and attachment style are related to dissociation in adolescence. The dissertation also contributes by presenting information about the amount and type of dissociative experiences in war-exposed refugee youth, giving information to clinicians to more easily assess these difficulties among traumatized refugee adolescents.
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| 6. |
- Gusic, Sabina, et al.
(författare)
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Types of Trauma in Adolescence and Their Relation to Dissociation: A Mixed-Methods Study
- 2016
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Ingår i: Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. - 1942-9681. ; 8, s. 568-576
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To study adolescent traumatization and the impact of various types of trauma on dissociative experiences in a sample of 239 Swedish youngsters, 13 to 20 years of age, with diverse socioeconomic and migration backgrounds. We also evaluated whether the type of worst lifetime trauma was associated with higher rates of dissociation.Method: Quantitative and qualitative data on posttraumatic stress, dissociative experiences, and potentially traumatic events (PTEs), including participants' written descriptions of their worst lifetime trauma.Results: Most (92%) of the participants had been exposed to at least 1 PTE and 51% to 4 or more, during their life. Number of PTEs correlated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress and dissociation. There were higher rates of dissociation among economically vulnerable and second-generation war refugee participants. Emotional abuse by others (mostly peers) was the only significant predictor of dissociation when controlling for gender, age, total PTEs, posttraumatic stress, and poverty. Moderation analyses showed that lifetime worst traumas categorized as primarily emotional moderated and amplified the relation between total PTEs and dissociation, but only among girls.Conclusions: Our findings indicate that traumatization is very common among adolescents, with greater prevalence of dissociation among vulnerable groups, and that emotional traumas are linked to higher rates of dissociation, especially among girls. Researchers, clinicians, and school personnel need to focus more on immigrant status and low SES as vulnerability factors, and address the consequences of emotional abuse, including bullying, among adolescents.
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| 7. |
- Marcusson-Clavertz, David, et al.
(författare)
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The relation of dissociation and mind wandering to unresolved/disorganized attachment : an experience sampling study
- 2017
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Ingår i: Attachment & Human Development. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1461-6734 .- 1469-2988. ; 19:2, s. 170-190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Individuals with unresolved/disorganized representations of childhood trauma (U/d attachment) report more psychological distress than others, but little is known about their everyday mentation. In the present study adults with childhood trauma (N = 45) completed the Berkeley-Leiden Adult Attachment Questionnaire-Unresolved (BLAAQ-U) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and reported everyday mentation during 5 days of experience sampling. The BLAAQ-U and the AAI showed a medium association with each other, but only the former significantly predicted negative affect, dissociation, and low control/awareness of mentation. Contrary to our predictions, U/d attachment did not significantly predict mind wandering, but the BLAAQ-U predicted endorsements of a negative mind wandering style. U/d attachment, as assessed by both instruments, was associated with the Poor attentional control style and beliefs in anomalous mental phenomena. Experience sampling is a valuable way to investigate everyday experiences in individuals with U/d attachment.
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