Exploring childhood trauma and dissociation
relating to behavioural addictions in youth
What this research is about
Previous studies have found that there are negative
effects of childhood trauma on physical and mental
health. It can also play a role in the development of
dissociative symptoms. Dissociative symptoms can be
defined as feeling disconnected from one’s mental
activities and behaviours. They may include feeling
that the world around is distorted or not real; being
numb to one’s emotions; and having memory lapses.
Recent evidence also suggests that the relationship
between childhood trauma and dissociation
influences the course of several conditions. Such
conditions can include bipolar, personality, psychotic,
and eating disorders. Several studies have reported
that people with substance use disorders are more
likely to have a history of dissociative experiences and
childhood trauma. These studies have mainly focused
on alcohol and opioids misuse. Yet, this issue has only
been preliminarily explored in relation to behavioural
addictions. Behavioural addictions refer to any
behaviours that can lead to symptoms of addiction,
such as gambling. It has been reported that the
association between childhood trauma and gambling
disorder severity is linked to clinical dissociation.
This study aims to clarify the role of dissociation in the
relationship between childhood trauma and
behavioural addictions. The researchers surveyed
individuals between the ages of 18 and 34.
What the researchers did
The researchers recruited 633 Italian young adults
aged 18 to 34 years for an online survey. About 72%
of the participants were female, and 28% were male.
The survey included the following measures:
What you need to know
This study examined how dissociation and
childhood trauma interact to contribute to
behavioural addictions. The researchers surveyed
633 Italian young adults. They assessed childhood
trauma, dissociation, and behavioural addiction
symptoms using self-report measures. The
behavioural addictions included gambling, social
media use, internet gaming, exercise, and
compulsive buying. The results showed that
participants with greater childhood trauma also
had more dissociative experiences. This, in turn,
led to more severe symptoms of behavioural
addictions. This study's findings support that the
interaction of childhood trauma and dissociation
increases the risks of behavioural addiction.
• The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to
measure childhood trauma.
• The Dissociative Experience Scale (DES) to
measure dissociation. Specifically, eight items
of the DES were used to assess dissociative
experiences.
• The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI)
to measure problematic gambling behaviours.
• The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale
(BSMAS) to measure social media use.
• The Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short
Form (IGD-SF) to measure internet gaming.
• The Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-
R) to measure exercise behaviours.
• The Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) to
measure compulsive buying.
 • The Cut-Annoyed-Guilty-Eye (CAGE)
Questionnaire to assess alcohol use.
All the behavioural addiction scales were assembled
under what the researchers called the Total
Behavioural Addiction Index. These scales included
the PGSI, BSMAS, IGDS-SF, EDS-R, and CBS.
What the researchers found
Overall, 2.2% of the sample of 633 young adults
showed problem gambling (PGSI score over 7). Of the
participants, 28.4% showed problematic social media
use (BSMAS score over 17). In addition, 5.8% showed
internet gambling disorder (IGD-SF score over 20).
About 1.6% of the participants showed risks for
exercise addition (EDS-R score over 84). Also, 6.3% of
the participants showed compulsive buying
behaviours (CBS score less than -1.34). Finally, 5.7% of
the participants showed pathological dissociation.
This study shows that the severity of childhood
trauma is linked to the severity of the symptoms
related to behavioural addictions. That is, participants
who reported greater childhood trauma also had
more severe behavioural addiction symptoms. In
addition, pathological dissociation is a mediator of
this association. In other words, participants with
greater childhood trauma had more dissociative
symptoms. This, in turn, resulted in more severe
behavioural addiction symptoms.
How you can use this research
This research can be used to explore the effects of
childhood trauma and dissociative experiences on
behavioural addiction symptoms. It could also inform
clinical practices for behavioural addictions; clients
with dissociative experiences may require different
treatment approaches than those without such
experiences.
About the researchers
Claudio Imperatori, Giuseppe Alessio Carbone, and
Elena De Rossi are affiliated with the Cognitive and
Clinical Psychology Laboratory in the Department of
Human Sciences at the European University of Rome
in Rome, Italy. Benedetta Barchielli is affiliated with
the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology,
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License.
and Health Studies at the Sapienza University of Rome
in Rome, Italy. Ornella Corazza is affiliated with the
Department of Clinical, Pharmaceutical and Biological
Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield,
United Kingdom. Elisabeth Prevete, Simone
Montaldo, Lorenzo Tarsitani, Stefano Ferracuti,
Massimo Pasquini, Massimo Biondi, Benedetto
Farina, and Francesco Saverio Bersani are affiliated
with the Department of Human Neurosciences at
Sapienza University of Rome in Rome, Italy. Chiara
Massullo is affiliated with the Experimental
Psychology Laboratory in the Department of
Education at Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy. For
more information about this study, please contact
Francesco Saverio Bersani at
francescosaverio.bersani@uniroma1.it.
Citation
Imperatori, C., Barchielli, B., Corazza, O., Carbone, G.
A., Prevete, E., Montaldo, S., De Rossi, E., Massullo, C.,
Tarsitani, L., Ferracuti, S., Pasquini, M., Biondi, M.,
Farina, B., & Bersani, F. S. (2023). The relationship
between childhood trauma, pathological dissociation,
and behavioral addictions in young adults: Findings
from a cross-sectional study. Journal of Trauma &
Dissociation, 24(3), 348–361.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2023.2181479
Study funding
No external funding was received for this study.
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2023