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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Valerie Simon
Abstract
Theory and research have identified dissociation as a likely mechanism underlying the risk of mental health problems for violence-exposed youth. Dissociation is characterized by alterations and disruptions to consciousness, memory, self-identity, and perception of the environment. Theory posits that people develop high levels of trait dissociation following childhood interpersonal violence exposure which in turn manifests as state dissociation in response to everyday stressors. However, these associations have not been tested among adolescents.
Social interactions that evoke the dynamics of interpersonal violence—betrayal, stigmatization, and powerlessness (BSP)—may trigger state dissociation. For example, the betrayal of trust from a caregiver may render violence-exposed adolescents especially reactive to an age-typical relationship betrayal (e.g., a close friend spreads rumors about you). Using virtual reality (VR), we examined whether youth dissociate in response to age-typical social stressors that involve BSP dynamics and tested two pathways linking childhood IVE to state dissociation: emotion dysregulation and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).
Adolescents (N = 239, MAge = 15.87) participated in 12 VR-simulated peer interactions. After each simulation, they rated their state dissociation and negative emotion. Violence exposure was positively associated with state dissociation. PTSS but not emotion dysregulation mediated effects of victimization on state dissociation. Results of multilevel modeling analyses suggested that participants who responded with more negative emotion across VR simulations were also more likely to seek relief by dissociating. These findings provide experimental support to the longstanding theory that adolescents with interpersonal violence exposure dissociate in response to negative emotion elicited from age-typical social challenges.
Recommended Citation
Kouri, Nicole Arja, "Adolescents' Dissociative Responses To Age-Typical Social Stressors: Links With Violence Exposure And Mental Health" (2025). Wayne State University Dissertations. 4257.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/4257