Dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder in Khmer refugees resettled in the United States

The purpose of this study was to examine the amount of trauma endured in a nonpsychiatric population of Khmer refugees and DSM-III diagnoses through current symptoms of dissociative states, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. Subsequent relationships between individual trauma items and symptomatology were examined as were relationships between all dependent variables. A total weighted trauma score and a total additive trauma score were also examined. The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (Cambodian version) (HSCL-25), and a PTSD symptom checklist were used as dependent measures and were administered to 50 Khmer refugees living in Greensboro, North Carolina. The independent variable was amount of trauma measured by a trauma questionnaire. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine if relationships existed between the independent variable of trauma and the dependent variables. The Pearson product moment correlation procedure was used to provide coefficients to examine the various relationships