Citation

Martínez-Taboas A, Bernal G. Cultur. Divers. Ethnic Minor. Psychol. 2000; 6(1): 32-41.

Affiliation

Caribbean Center for Postgraduate Studies, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues; American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10975165

Abstract

A variety of clinical and experimental data suggest that many individuals who report abusive and traumatic experiences also report a wide array of dissociative and other psychopathological symptoms. In this study, 198 Puerto Rican undergraduate students participated in a study to examine the possible relationship between different types of traumatic experiences and the self-report of dissociative experiences, depressive symptoms, and general psychopathology. Another aspect of this study was the examination of the psychometric properties of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) in a Latino sample. Results supported the hypothesis that those individuals who reported frequent and severe traumatic experiences were also the most likely to experience psychological malaise and scored higher on the DES. Of interest was the finding that the psychometric characteristics of the DES are consistent with those reported in the United States and other countries. The authors conclude that individuals with a marked history of trauma and abuse are more likely to use dissociative defenses as a coping response.

Language: en