LEVELS OF DISSOCIATION AND HISTORIES OF REPORTED ABUSE AMONG WOMEN OUTPATIENTS

A total of 99 female patients consecutively admitted to an adult psych iatric outpatient clinic were surveyed about their history of physical and sexual abuse. Sixty-five percent of this sample reported having b een physically abused, sexually abused, or both during their lifetimes . Scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale were significantly high er among those reporting a history of sexual abuse than among those re porting a history of physical abuse or no history of abuse, who did no t differ from each other. Dissociative Experiences Scale scores were i mportant predictors of histories of sexual abuse among this sample. Th e implications of these findings for outpatient evaluation are discuss ed.