Reported Potentially Traumatizing Events, Psychoform and Somatoform Dissociation, and

Objective: Some authors have suggested that the personality characteristic ‘fantasy proneness ’ may mediate the correlation between reported potentially traumatizing events and dissociative symptoms. Other authors question the reported magnitude of this correlation in non-clinical samples because these are usually derived from student samples and may therefore suffer from a restriction of range. The primary aim of this study is to assess the relationship between a self-report measure of traumatisation and psychoform dissociation as well as somatoform dissociation in a non-clinical population, while accounting for the influence of fantasy proneness. Method: Two random non-clinical samples, i.e., a student and an adult non-student sample, completed a range of relevant self-report questionnaires. Absorption was used as an index of fantasy proneness. Results: The range of reported potentially traumatising events was restricted in students, compared to non-students. In both samples a significant correlation was found between reported potentially traumatizing events and dissociation. After partialling out absorption, the relationship between reported potential traumatisation and psychoform dissociatio