The psychopathological dynamics of married couples reporting childhood trauma through the perspective of modern psychotraumatology and dissoanalysis theory

Childhood traumas and dissociative experiences, which have been studied by many disciplines including psychiatry, clinical psychology, forensic sciences, psychological counseling and guidance, are among the most frequently examined and important basic scientific topics today. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood traumas, family pyschopathology and dissociative experiences, self-injurious behaviors and posttraumatic growth in married couples. Total 204 adults, including 102 married couples who have been married for at least 1 year, living in Istanbul comprised the sample of our master's thesis study. In this study, five data collection tools including Personal Information Form, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Self-Injurious Behavior Assessment Inventory and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory were administered to the participants face-to-face and online. This study has found statistically significant relationships between the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Self-Injurious Behavior Assessment Inventory and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Childhood traumas explained 3.35% of the variance of self-injurious behaviors, and the effects of childhood traumas (β = -.12) and self-injurious behaviors (β = .07) were statistically significantly predicted by these variables. Childhood traumas and self-injurious behaviors together explained 4% of the dependent variance of change in self-perception. Recognizing the importance of childhood traumas and dissociative experiences, which are one of the defense mechanisms that emerge in relation to childhood traumas, self-injurious behavior as a method of coping with dissociative experiences, and a detailed investigation of posttraumatic growth that emerges in relation to all these are of primary importance. Considering that the family institution is a basic etiological factor in terms of intergenerational transmission of trauma, our study conducted with married couples is expected to enable scientific research that will serve to develop strategies for the prevention of traumatic experiences in terms of modern psychotraumatology principles and dissoanalysis theory.