The Disorganized Response Scale: Construct validity of a potential self-report measure of disorganized attachment.

Objective: Based on the paucity of self-report measures of disorganized attachment (DA), we developed and tested a scale examining adults' self-reported disorganized verbalizations, cognitions, and behaviors when discussing their childhoods.

Method: The Disorganized Response Scale (DRS) was created and administered to 640 university students, and its associations with variables known to covary with DA, such as childhood maltreatment, insecure attachment, and psychological symptoms, were examined.

Results: Factor analysis of DRS items revealed a single 15-item dimension that reflected participants' self-reported disorganized responses when discussing their childhoods.

Disengaged parenting: Structural equation modeling with child abuse, insecure attachment, and adult symptomatology.

Based on attachment theory, we hypothesized that self-reported childhood experiences of disengaged parenting (DP) would predict adults' psychological symptoms even more than, on average, childhood sexual, physical, or psychological abuse. In a large (N=640) university sample, bootstrapped multiple regression analyses indicated that although various forms of child maltreatment were correlated with symptomatology at the univariate level, DP was the primary multivariate predictor. Structural equation modeling indicated significant direct paths from (a) DP to both nonsexual child maltreatment and sexual abuse, (b) DP and nonsexual child maltreatment to insecure attachment, and (c) sexual abuse and insecure attachment to symptomatology.

Compensatory self-injury: Posttraumatic stress, depression, and the role of dissociation.

Objective: Despite a number of studies, the reasons for self-injurious behavior (SIB) have yet to be clearly specified. Using path analysis, we sought to test the hypothesis that exposure to adverse events produces depression and posttraumatic stress, which in turn motivate dissociation that, when at high levels, supports the use of SIB.

Method: A sample of 679 adults (54% female, mean age = 53 years) were recruited from the general population by a national survey company, and administered measures evaluating posttraumatic stress, depression, dissociation, and SIB.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms as a mediator between sexual assault and adverse health outcomes in undergraduate women.

This study investigated the links between sexual assault experiences, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and adverse physical health outcomes among undergraduate women. Existing research has demonstrated that posttraumatic stress disorder mediates the relationship between trauma exposure and physical health in general, but this has yet to be tested for sexual assault specifically. Using structural equation modeling, support was found for a model in which posttraumatic stress symptom severity partially mediates the association between sexual assault severity and self-reported health outcomes.