Anxiety, depression, and dissociation in women health care providers reporting a history of childhood psychological abuse.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and adult manifestations of depression, anxiety, and dissociation.

METHOD

Women health care professionals reporting a history of childhood psychological maltreatment (n = 55) were compared to a nonabused control group (n = 55) on the three dimensions of anxiety, depression, and dissociation. The Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, a measure constructed specifically for this study to assess abuse history, was used to determine group membership. Participants were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES).

RESULTS

A significant discriminant function analysis using the STAI, BDI, and DES as predictor variables was able to correctly classify 74.5% of the psychologically abused participants and 89.1% of the nonabused group, with an overall hit rate of 81.8%. Statistically significant differences were obtained between the abused and nonabused groups on the STAI, BDI, and DES.

CONCLUSIONS

Interpretation of these results suggests that participants who reported a history of childhood psychological abuse suffer significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety, and more frequent dissociative experiences, than the nonabused women.