Dissociation related to subjective memory fragmentation and intrusions but not to objective memory disturbances

Kindt et al.'s two replications found that higher peritraumatic dissociation during the film was related to greater fragmentation immediately and one week later.

“In two replication studies (Kindt et al., 2005, Study 1, N = 50; Study 2, N = 50) with the same film used by Kindt and van den Hout (2003), individuals reporting higher peritraumatic dissociation during the film also reported higher fragmentation of their memory perception of the film immediately after (Study 1) and also one-week later (Study 2).”

Analogue studies support a link between higher peritraumatic dissociation and greater fragmentation when fragmentation is measured as loosely related elements with a one-item index.

“Taken together, these studies support the notion that higher peritraumatic dissociation is related to higher fragmentation, when assessed as loosely related elements in the memory, using a one-item index.”

Analogue designs suggest that greater peritraumatic dissociation relates to greater meta-memory fragmentation, though these studies are limited by single-item measures.

“Similar to the above analogue studies (Kindt & van den Hout, 2003; Kindt et al., 2005), this study is limited by the same single-item measure and again suggests that when assessed with analogue designs that greater peritraumatic dissociation is related to greater meta-memory fragmentation.”

In analogue studies, peritraumatic dissociation was not significantly related to sequential memory performance or subjectively coded fragmentation.

“Thus, in analogue studies, peritraumatic dissociation was not significantly related to sequential memory performance (Kindt & van den Hout, 2003) or subjectively coded fragmentation (Buck et al., 2006b; Kindt et al., 2005).”

All three analogue studies using a single-item measure suggest an association between peritraumatic dissociation and meta-memory fragmentation.

“Similarly, all three analogue studies, using a single item measure (Buck et al., 2006b; Kindt & van den Hout, 2003; Kindt et al., 2005), also suggest an association between peritraumatic dissociation and meta-memory fragmentation.”

In analogue studies, peritraumatic dissociation during film viewing was not significantly related to sequential memory task performance or rater-coded narrative recall using a one-item rating.

“In the three analogue studies described earlier (Kindt & van den Hout, 2003; Kindt et al., 2005), peritraumatic dissociation during film viewing was not significantly related to either performance on a sequential memory task (Kindt & van den Hout, 2003; Kindt et al., 2005) or to rater-coded narrative recall using a one-item rating (Kindt et al., 2005).”

Trait dissociation was not significantly related to meta-memory fragmentation in the analogue studies.

“Thus, trait dissociation was not significantly related to meta-memory fragmentation in these analogue studies.”

In the reviewed studies, single-item measures of fragmentation were more likely than multi-item scales to show positive associations with dissociation.

“One-item assessments were more likely to show positive associations with dissociation (positive association: Buck et al., 2006b; Kindt & van den Hout, 2003; Kindt et al., 2005; Engelhard et al., 2003; Halligan et al., 2003; Hardy et al., 2009; Murray et al., 2002; van der Kolk & Fisler, 1995; van der Hart et al., 2005) than multi-item scales (no strong association: Byrne et al., 2001; Jones et al.”

When fragmentation is operationalized as specific tangible elements, relationships between higher dissociation and fragmentation were elusive across meta-memory, rater-based coding, and objective performance indices.

“Interestingly, when operationalizing fragmentation as a construct comprised of specific tangible elements (e.g., repetitions, sensory aspects), whether rated by meta-memory, rater-based coding, or objective performance based indices, relationships between higher dissociation and fragmentation were illusive (e.g., Byrne et al., 2001; Kindt et al., 2005; Peace et al., 2008; Rubin et al., 2004; Zoell”