Fantasy proneness, DSM-III-R axis I psychopathology, and dissociation

Two thirds of the fantasy-prone college students (16 of total N = 24) who scored in the upper 4% of the population on the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI; S.C. Wilson & T. X. Wilson, 1981) and who were administered a diagnostic interview met the criteria for either a past or present Axis I diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987), compared with 31% of medium fantasy-prone students (8 of total N = 26) who scored within 1/2 a standard deviation of the mean on the ICMI. Fantasizers also reported a higher frequency of past diagnosis of major depression (50%) than nonfantasizers (12%) and more dissociative experiences and symptoms, as indexed by a structured interview. Contrary to certain estimates of the frequency of dissociative disorders in the general population, none of the participants in the study received an actual dissociative disorder diagnosis. For certain individuals, fantasy proneness can be associated with significant psychopathology.