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.