Temporal Dynamics of Affective, Physiological, and Dissociative States: A Transdiagnostic Approach

• Applicant: Dr. Johannes Heekerens
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology ; Clinical Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 511417205

Dissociation is a ubiquitous clinical phenomenon. Dissociative disorders such as depersonalization/derealization disorder are primarily characterized by dissociation, and dissociative states are also a criterion for borderline personality disorder and the dissociative subtype of post-traumatic stress disorder. Trauma models propose that severe forms of dissociation function as a protective and evolutionarily beneficial response to overwhelming threat, especially when there is low or no chance to escape. Dissociative states that are present beyond the initial threatening situation are often viewed as a complex conditioned response to stressful events that is sustained through positive and negative reinforcement mechanisms. Although the internal and external triggers of dissociative states have been extensively studied, less is known about the psychological and physiological states that precede and follow dissociations. The objective of this research project is to examine the temporal links between affective, physiological, and dissociative states in a transdiagnostic sample of patients with dissociative symptoms. The project will investigate whether changes in arousal and valence dimensions of affective states precede dissociative states or change after dissociative states, and whether dissociative states temporally relate to indicators of physiological stress. For this purpose, affective, dissociative, and physiological states will be assessed several times in the lab and in everyday life in the same individuals. We will extend previous research by using a transdiagnostic approach, combining lab experiments and experience sampling, and deploying self-report and physiological measures, all of which will further our knowledge of how dissociative responses unfold and are maintained.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position