Are major dissociative disorders characterized by a qualitatively different kind of dissociation?

A total of 66 patients with a major dissociative disorder, 54 patients with nondissociative disorders, and 30 nonclinical controls were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders-Revised, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation, and the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised. Dissociative patients reported significantly more dissociative and nondissociative symptoms than did nondissociative patients and nonclinical controls. When general psychopathology was controlled, the dissociation scores of dissociative patients were still significantly higher than those of both other groups, whereas the dissociation scores of nondissociative patients and nonclinical controls no longer differed.