The relationship between obsessive compulsive sypmtoms, childhood traumas and dissociative experiences

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between obsessive compulsive symptoms, childhood traumas and dissociation in a non-clinical sample. Method: A total of 388 participants (313 females and 75 males) between the ages of 18-66 were included to the study. The majority of the population was found as female (%80,1), having had university education (%84,2) and currently married (%54,1). A Sociodemographic Information Form, The Padua Inventory, The Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were applied to all participants. In the analysis of the data, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, frequency analysis and Pearson Correlation were used. Results: According to the findings, a significant relationship was observed between obsessive compulsive symptoms and childhood trauma both total and sub-dimensional scores. In addition, positive relationships were observed between contamination obsessive compulsive symptoms and sexual abuse history in childhood. Our results show results also showed that a significant relationship existed between obsessional thoughts compulsive symptom and derealization / depersonalization and a positive correlation was observed between dissociative amnesia and control obsessive compulsive symptoms. The results showed that increasing of amnesia experiences were correlated with higher control obsessive compulsive behaviors which is explained by the development of obsessive compulsive symptoms and repeated control behaviors due to decreased trust in memory in this study. Conclusion: These findings indicated significant relationship with different types of obsessive compulsive symptoms, childhood traumas and dissociation.