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Colin A Ross

Publications and source records attributed to Colin A Ross.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Trauma and dissociation in China.

OBJECTIVE: In order to determine whether pathological dissociation occurs in China, the authors conducted a survey among psychiatric inpatients, outpatients, and the general population in Shanghai, China. There is virtually no popular or professional knowledge of dissociative identity disorder in China, and therefore professional and popular contamination cannot exist. METHOD: Chinese versions of the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule were administered to 423 inpatients, 304 outpatients, and 618 factory workers in Shanghai by Chinese psychiatrists working at the Shanghai Mental Health Center. RESULTS: Dissociative disorders were diagnosed in 24 respondents by structured interview, and 15 respondents fell into the dissociative taxon on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. The outpatients reported the highest rates of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and of pathological dissociation. CONCLUSIONS: Pathological dissociation can be detected readily among psychiatric outpatients in China but is much less common in the general population. Pathological dissociation is more frequent in more traumatized subsamples of the Chinese population. The findings are not consistent with the sociocognitive, contamination, or iatrogenic models of dissociative identity disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Dissociative experiences in China.

The Dissociative Experiences Scale was administered to a non-clinical sample in Shanghai, China (N = 618) and the results were compared with a previous sample of the general population from Winnipeg, Canada (N = 1055). The Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule was administered to the 618 Chinese participants and results were compared with those of the Canadian participants (N = 502). In addition, both measures were administered to a sample of Chinese psychiatric inpatients (N = 423) and outpatients (N = 304). Rates of childhood trauma and dissociation were far lower in the Chinese non-clinical sample than in the two Chinese psychiatric patient groups, and far lower than in the Canadian general population. Among the 618 respondents in the Chinese non-clinical sample, no childhood sexual abuse was reported and only one person reported childhood physical abuse. These rates of childhood abuse were far lower than in other non-clinical samples from China; for example, rates were 16.7% for sexual abuse of girls and 10.5% for sexual abuse of boys in a previous study. Among the more traumatized Chinese psychiatric patients, and among the Canadian respondents, dissociative experiences were much more common than in the Chinese general population. The data provide a base frequency for dissociation in non-clinical samples reporting little or no childhood physical and sexual abuse.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The sham ECT literature: implications for consent to ECT.

The author reviewed the placebo-controlled literature on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for depression. No study demonstrated a significant difference between real and placebo (sham) ECT at 1 month posttreatment. Many studies failed to find a difference between real and sham ECT even during the period of treatment. Claims in textbooks and review articles that ECT is effective are not consistent with the published data. A large, properly designed study of real versus sham ECT should be undertaken. In the absence of such a study, consent forms for ECT should include statements that there is no controlled evidence demonstrating any benefit from ECT at 1 month posttreatment. Consent forms should also state that real ECT is only marginally more effective than placebo.

Consent Forms↗
PubMed2005

Childhood sexual abuse and psychosomatic symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by chronic gastrointestinal symptoms without a demonstrable physical cause. In a subgroup of patients, irritable bowel syndrome may be part of a cluster of psychosomatic symptoms related to childhood sexual abuse. To investigate this possibility, the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were administered to 105 subjects with either irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis), or other gastrointestinal disorders. The subjects in the three groups did not differ on the DES, the SCL-90 or most sections of the DDIS. However, subjects with irritable bowel syndrome reported much higher rates of childhood sexual abuse and psychosomatic symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Childhood physical and sexual abuse in China.

In order to determine the prevalence and characteristics of childhood physical and sexual abuse in China, the authors conducted a survey in Shanghai. The Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule was administered to 423 inpatients and 304 outpatients at Shanghai Mental Health Center, and to a non-clinical sample of 618 workers at a clothing factory. The results were compared to a previous sample of 502 respondents in the general population in Winnipeg, Canada. The identities of the perpetrators of physical and sexual abuse, and the types of sexual abuse reported were similar in the two countries; however, the rates of reported abuse were lower in China. Childhood sexual abuse appears to be far less common in the general population in Canada than in China.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Discriminating among diagnostic categories using the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule.

The Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule was administered to 1,308 subjects in eight diagnostic categories, including 296 with dissociative identity disorder. The study tested three hypotheses: (1) the Mahalanobis distance between dissociative identity disorder and each of seven other diagnostic categories would be large, (2) the closest diagnostic category to dissociative identity disorder would be dissociative disorder not otherwise specified, and (3) nondissociative diagnostic categories would be closer to each other than any one to dissociative identity disorder. All three hypotheses were confirmed by these data. The findings support the conclusion that dissociative identity disorder is a discrete category or taxon.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

A proposed trial of dialectical behavior therapy and trauma model therapy.

Dissociative identity disorder and borderline personality disorder resemble each other in trauma histories and comorbidity. Each disorder is frequently comorbid with the other. Treatment outcome data for Dialectical Behavior Therapy of borderline personality disorder and Trauma Model Therapy of dissociative identity disorder are reviewed. The author proposes a psychotherapy treatment study in which there are three subject groups and two treatment conditions. The subject groups are borderline personality disorder without dissociative identity disorder; dissociative identity disorder without borderline personality disorder; and both conditions present concurrently. Subjects would be randomized to receive Dialectical Behavior Therapy or Trauma Model Therapy. Such a study could provide answers to controversies in the field about a better treatment approach for dissociative identity disorder and potentially could broaden and strengthen the indications for Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Psychological trauma and psychosis: another reason why people diagnosed schizophrenic must be offered psychological therapies.

This article summarizes the research literature documenting the high prevalence of psychological trauma, including childhood sexual and physical abuse, among people diagnosed psychotic in general and schizophrenic in particular. A review of the relevant literature indicates that childhood trauma may in some cases be causally related to the development of psychotic symptomatology later in life, perhaps by contributing to the diathesis in the stress-diathesis equation. However it is argued that regardless of whether clinicians view the relationship as causal, contributory, co-morbid, or coincidental is irrelevant to the fact that this high prevalence dictates that all people diagnosed schizophrenic receive a proper trauma assessment and, where appropriate, be offered psychological treatments to address the sequelae of the trauma or abuse. Taken in conjunction with the proven effectiveness of various psychological and psychosocial treatments in ameliorating the symptomatology and improving the quality of life of people diagnosed schizophrenic, the need to address the trauma found in such high rates in this population requires a broadening, and not as some suggest a limitation, of the range of treatments offered. The authors identify and challenge ideologically, rather than empirically, driven assumptions about the etiology of schizophrenia, particularly the distorted but dominant version of the diathesis-stress model, which claims that the diathesis is predominantly or exclusively biogenetic in origin and therefore inaccurately places all psychosocial stressors and traumas exclusively on the stress side of the equation. It is this bias that inhibits many clinicians from taking trauma histories with people diagnosed schizophrenic and from offering appropriate treatment when trauma is disclosed. It is the same bias that leads some to argue for a reduction in the availability of psychological therapies for such people.

Adult↗