PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE DISSOCIATIVE EXPERIENCES SCALE

The test-retest reliability of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES ; Bernstein Ehl, Putnam FW [1986] Development, reliability, and validi ty of a dissociation scale. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 174:727-735) in a clinical sample was found to be .93 for the total DE S score and .95, .89, and .82 for the three subscale scores of amnesia , depersonalization-derealization, and absorption (dissociative identi ty disorder [DID], DSM-IV), respectively. Test-retest reliabilities wi thin diagnostic groups of multiple personality disorder, dissociative disorder not otherwise specified, and a general other category of psyc hiatric diagnoses were obtained for total and subscale scores on the D ES. These ranged from .78 to .96. Tests of mean scores across the two test sessions showed the total and subscale scores to be temporally st able. The DES was also found to be highly internally consistent; Cronb ach's alphas of .96 and .97 were observed for the total DES scores tak en at times 1 and 2, respectively. Construct validity of the DES was d emonstrated by differentiation among the subscale scores in a repeated -measures analysis of variance (F[2,154] = 32.03, p less than or equal to .001). Normality and general distribution issues were also address ed and provided a rationale for using the DES with parametric statisti cs, Reasons why the DES (as it was originally designed) is not appropr iate as a dependent measure in outcome research are discussed, along w ith needed future research. Implications of the findings for the clini cal usefulness of the DES as a diagnostic instrument are noted.