TY - JOUR
T1 - The Loss of the Self in Memory
T2 - Self-Referential Memory, Childhood Relational Trauma, and Dissociation
AU - Chiu, Chui De
AU - Tollenaar, Marieke S.
AU - Yang, Cheng Ta
AU - Elzinga, Bernet M.
AU - Zhang, Tian Yang
AU - Ho, Hoi Lam
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by a start-up grant from the Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a grant of Research Committee Funding from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Grant No. 4052099), and a grant from the Research Grants Council, Early Career Scheme (Grant No. 24618115) to C.-D. Chiu.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - The segregated representations pertinent to childhood relational trauma have long been posited as a key pathogenic mechanism for dissociation. Yet, the weak to moderate correlation of child maltreatment with dissociation proneness leads to the question about which factors may moderate the impact of adverse childhood interpersonal experiences and work synergistically in the genesis of dissociation. We hypothesized that self-referential memory may play a role and that low accessibility to self-referenced representations may obstruct the ongoing synthesis of self representations, leaving these unassimilated early experiences disintegrated and inimical to mental function in response to a stressful situation. This hypothesis was examined by two experiments in college students. The first experiment showed the association between dissociation proneness and low accessibility to self-referenced representations. The second demonstrated that low accessibility to self-referenced representations moderated the link between childhood relational trauma and dissociation proneness. Weakened self-referential memory matters in the link between trauma and dissociation.
AB - The segregated representations pertinent to childhood relational trauma have long been posited as a key pathogenic mechanism for dissociation. Yet, the weak to moderate correlation of child maltreatment with dissociation proneness leads to the question about which factors may moderate the impact of adverse childhood interpersonal experiences and work synergistically in the genesis of dissociation. We hypothesized that self-referential memory may play a role and that low accessibility to self-referenced representations may obstruct the ongoing synthesis of self representations, leaving these unassimilated early experiences disintegrated and inimical to mental function in response to a stressful situation. This hypothesis was examined by two experiments in college students. The first experiment showed the association between dissociation proneness and low accessibility to self-referenced representations. The second demonstrated that low accessibility to self-referenced representations moderated the link between childhood relational trauma and dissociation proneness. Weakened self-referential memory matters in the link between trauma and dissociation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058674906&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85058674906&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/2167702618804794
DO - 10.1177/2167702618804794
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85058674906
VL - 7
SP - 265
EP - 282
JO - Clinical Psychological Science
JF - Clinical Psychological Science
SN - 2167-7026
IS - 2
ER -