The Trauma Model of Dissociation: Inconvenient Truths and Stubborn Fictions. Comment on Dalenberg Et Al. (2012)

Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 140, No.3, 2014, 896-910

UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-36

16 Pages Posted: 3 Apr 2015

See all articles by Steven Lynn

Steven Lynn

Binghamton University

Scott O. Lilienfeld

Emory University - Emory College of Arts and Sciences

Harald Merckelbach

Maastricht University - Psychopharmacology, Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology

Timo Giesbrecht

Maastricht University

Richard McNally

Harvard University

Elizabeth F. Loftus

University of California, Irvine - Department of Psychological Science; University of California, Irvine School of Law

Maggie Bruck

Johns Hopkins University - Department of Medicine

Maryanne Garry

Victoria University of Wellington, School of Psychology

Anne Malaktaris

Binghamton University

Date Written: March 31, 2015

Abstract

Dalenberg et al. (2012) argued that convincing evidence (a) supports the longstanding trauma model (TM), which posits that early trauma plays a key role in the genesis of dissociation; and (b) refutes the fantasy model (FM), which posits that fantasy proneness, suggestibility, cognitive failures, and other variables foster dissociation. We review evidence bearing on Dalenberg et al.’s 8 predictions and find them largely wanting in empirical support. We contend that the authors repeat errors committed by many previous proponents of the TM, such as attributing a central etiological role to trauma in the absence of sufficient evidence. Specifically, Dalenberg et al. leap too quickly from correlational data to causal conclusions, do not adequately consider the lack of corroboration of abuse in many studies, and underestimate the relation between dissociation and false memories. Nevertheless, we identify points of agreement between the TM and FM regarding potential moderators and mediators of dissociative symptoms (e.g., family environment, biological vulnerabilities) and the hypothesis that dissociative identity disorder is a disorder of self- understanding. We acknowledge that trauma may play a causal role in dissociation but that this role is less central and specific than Dalenberg et al. contend. Finally, although a key assumption of the TM is dissociative amnesia, the notion that people can encode traumatic experiences without being able to recall them lacks strong empirical support. Accordingly, we conclude that the field should now abandon the simple trauma – dissociation model and embrace multifactorial models that accommodate the diversity of causes of dissociation and dissociative disorders.

Keywords: dissociation, dissociative disorder, dissociative identity disorder, trauma, sociocognitive model

Suggested Citation

Lynn, Steven and Lilienfeld, Scott O. and Merckelbach, Harald and Giesbrecht, Timo and McNally, Richard and Loftus, Elizabeth F. and Bruck, Maggie and Garry, Maryanne and Malaktaris, Anne, The Trauma Model of Dissociation: Inconvenient Truths and Stubborn Fictions. Comment on Dalenberg Et Al. (2012) (March 31, 2015). Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 140, No.3, 2014, 896-910, UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2015-36, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2587927

Steven Lynn (Contact Author)

Binghamton University ( email )

PO Box 6001
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
United States

Scott O. Lilienfeld

Emory University - Emory College of Arts and Sciences ( email )

Department of Violence Studies
Atlanta, GA 30322
United States

Harald Merckelbach

Maastricht University - Psychopharmacology, Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology

Netherlands

Timo Giesbrecht

Maastricht University

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, Limburg 6200MD
Netherlands

Richard McNally

Harvard University ( email )

1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Elizabeth F. Loftus

University of California, Irvine - Department of Psychological Science ( email )

4201 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-7085
United States

University of California, Irvine School of Law

401 E. Peltason Dr.
Ste. 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-1000
United States

Maggie Bruck

Johns Hopkins University - Department of Medicine ( email )

720 Rutland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21205-2196
United States

Maryanne Garry

Victoria University of Wellington, School of Psychology ( email )

Room 508, Easterfield Building
Kelburn Pde, Kelbun Campus
Wellington, 6140
New Zealand
04 463 5769 (Phone)
04 463 5402 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/psyc/staff/maryanne-garry.aspx

Anne Malaktaris

Binghamton University

PO Box 6001
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
126
Abstract Views
1,574
Rank
372,422
PlumX Metrics