A Review of Dissociative Disorders Treatment Studies

• Published in: The journal of nervous and mental disease Vol. 197; no. 9; pp. 646 - 654
• Main Authors: Brand, Bethany L, Classen, Catherine C, McNary, Scot W, Zaveri, Parin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc 01-09-2009; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adult; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse - psychology; Adult Survivors of Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Clinical outcomes; Clinical Trials as Topic - statistics & numerical data; Dissociative Disorders - diagnosis; Dissociative Disorders - psychology; Dissociative Disorders - therapy; Effects; Empirical Research; Female; Humans; Male; Medical disorders; Medical sciences; Medical treatment; Methodology. Experimentation; Miscellaneous; Patient Care Planning; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotherapy - methods; Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use; Reproducibility of Results; Research Design - standards; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; Techniques and methods; Treatment Outcome; Treatments; Human; Evaluation; Methodology; Treatment efficiency; Dissociative disorder; Anxiety disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Review; dissociative identity disorder; Trauma; Stress; Scientific literature; PTSD; Treatment; Critical study; Application method; Dissociation
• ISSN: 0022-3018; 1539-736X
• DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181b3afaa

This review examines empirical reports of treatment for Dissociative Disorders (DD), including 16 DD treatment outcome studies and 4 case studies that used standardized measures. Collectively, these reports suggest that treatment for DD is associated with decreased symptoms of dissociation, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, distress, and suicidality. Effect sizes, based on pre/post measures, are in the medium to large range across studies. Patients with dissociative disorder who integrated their dissociated self states were found to have reduced symptomatology compared with those who did not integrate. The magnitude of pre/post effect sizes for these DD studies are comparable to pre/post effect sizes in treatment studies of complex PTSD. There are significant methodological limitations in the current DD treatment outcome literature that reduce internal and external validity including regression towards the mean, limited sample sizes, and nonrandomized research designs. Implications for future research and treatment planning for patients suffering from DD are discussed.