Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders Reconsidered: Beyond Sociocognitive and Trauma Models Toward a Transtheoretical Framework.
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology February 28, 2022 S. Lynn, Craig P. Polizzi, H. Merckelbach et al.
Dissociation and dissociative disorders are better understood as failures of normally adaptive mental systems rather than as products of either the posttraumatic or sociocognitive models alone. A broader transdiagnostic and transtheoretical perspective considers interacting factors such as sleep disturbances, impaired self-regulation, hyperassociation, and deficits in reality testing and metacognition. The authors present an overview of the field, delineate points of convergence across competing models, and summarize key multivariable studies supporting their framework. They identify empirical pathways for future research, including studies of highly adverse events, to advance understanding of dissociation.