Association Between Clinically Significant Childhood Trauma and Dissociative Symptoms in a Multicenter Sample of...

Childhood trauma is highly prevalent among psychiatric populations and represents a major risk factor for a wide range of mental disorders. Exposure to childhood maltreatment has also been consistently associated with dissociative symptomatology, yet epidemiological data from Italian psychiatric outpatient populations remain limited. This study examined the prevalence of clinically significant childhood trauma and its association with dissociative symptoms in a multicentre sample of Italian psychiatric outpatients.

This cross-sectional study included 104 psychiatric outpatients recruited from Community Mental Health Centres across Sardinia. Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) and the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II). Participants scoring at or above the moderate threshold on at least one CTQ-SF subscale were classified as trauma-exposed. Descriptive analyses examined the prevalence of clinically significant childhood trauma exposure, and group comparisons were conducted to evaluate differences in dissociative symptoms.

Clinically significant childhood trauma exposure was reported by 76.9% of participants. Trauma-exposed participants reported significantly higher levels of dissociative symptoms than non-trauma-exposed participants (M = 24.3 vs. 16.1). An independent-samples t-test indicated a significant group difference, t(102) = 1.99, p = .049, with a moderate effect size (d = 0.46).

Childhood trauma and dissociative symptoms appear highly prevalent among individuals receiving care in community mental health services. These findings support the clinical relevance of routinely assessing both trauma exposure and dissociative symptomatology and highlight the potential value of trauma-informed approaches within public mental health settings.