Biomedical subjects

H J Irwin

Publications and source records attributed to H J Irwin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

The relationship between dissociative tendencies and schizotypy: an artifact of childhood trauma?

Previous research has suggested a relationship between dissociative tendencies and schizotypy. This study sought to extend the previous work in two fundamental respects. First, explicit cognizance was taken of the multidimensionality of both dissociative tendencies and schizotypy. Second, the study examined the possibility that the observed correlation between dissociative tendencies and schizotypy is an artifact of the association between each of these personality domains and a history of childhood trauma. Australian adults (N = 116) were administered the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that both pathological and nonpathological dissociative tendencies were predicted by the dimensions of schizotypy, even after the contribution of childhood trauma had been removed. It is concluded that the relationship between dissociative tendencies and schizotypy is not an artifact of childhood abuse, but the clinical significance of this relationship remains to be established.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Objective measurement of paranormal belief: a rebuttal to Vitulli.

Effects of age and sex in paranormal belief remain controversial because issues of scaling and differential item function are not given due attention. Therefore, in response to the recent debate between Irwin and Vitulli, these issues are reviewed and validated as crucial approaches for obtaining an objective measure of paranormal belief. A Rasch version of Tobacyk's Paranormal Belief Scale has been developed, but research with this scale suggests that--contrary to past literature and recently refined studies--age and sex are neither consistent nor crucial factors mediating paranormal belief.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Shame and guilt in women with eating-disorder symptomatology.

The relationship of shame and guilt to eating-disorder symptomatology was investigated in a sample of 97 Australian women. In terms of the objective of predicting the severity of eating disturbance, the study explored the predictive utility of proneness to shame and guilt in a global sense, shame and guilt associated specifically with eating contexts, and shame associated with the body. The study also sought to determine if shame is a more prominent emotion than guilt among women who have eating difficulties. Shame associated with eating behavior was the strongest predictor of the severity of eating-disorder symptomatology. Other effective predictors were guilt associated with eating behavior and body shame. Eating disturbance was unrelated to proneness to shame and guilt in a global sense. Discussion of these findings focuses on the issue of determining whether self-conscious affects are best regarded as causes or as consequences of eating disturbance.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Alexithymia and childhood family environment.

Little research has been conducted on the contribution of environmental factors to the development of alexithymic tendencies. Ninety-two university students were surveyed to determine if features of the childhood family environment could predict the level of alexithymic tendencies. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to measure alexithymic tendencies. Also surveyed retrospectively were dimensions of the childhood family environment such as the family's level of cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, disengagement, sociability, enmeshment, organization, and parenting style. Multiple-regression analysis showed that the set of family-environment variables did predict alexithymia scores. The sole family variable independently predictive of global alexithymic tendencies was expressiveness, although other family variables were predictive of individual components of alexithymia. The findings are consistent with the view that the childhood family environment has a bearing on the development of alexithymic tendencies, although other explanations by no means are excluded.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Age and sex differences in paranormal beliefs: a response to Vitulli, Tipton, and Rowe (1999)

Vitulli, Tipton, and Rowe (1999) report evidence of age and sex differences in the strength of paranormal beliefs. An alternative interpretation of their data is offered in terms of differential item functioning. It is suggested that respondents' interpretation of paranormal belief test items may vary with age and sex, and that such differences in the strength with which such beliefs are endorsed has not been conclusively established by Vitulli, et al.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Dissociative processes and symptoms of posttraumatic stress in Vietnam veterans.

The diagnostic taxonomy of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a contentious issue. Commentators are divided as to whether PTSD should remain grouped with the anxiety disorders or conceptualized as a dissociative disorder. This study sought to clarify the issue by investigating the extent to which anxiety and dissociative processes differentially predict the severity of each of the three symptoms clusters in PTSD. Seventy-four Australian veterans of the Vietnam War were assessed on measures of dissociation, trait anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Multiple regression analyses showed that all three symptoms clusters were predicted by anxiety, but the clusters differed in the pattern of their relationship with dissociation variables. The failure of pathological dissociation to predict PTSD symptoms prompts a reconsideration of the point at which dissociative mechanisms may impact on this disorder. The findings are consistent with current classification of combat-related PTSD as an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety↗

PubMed1999

Pathological and nonpathological dissociation: the relevance of childhood trauma.

Although previous research has implicated a history of childhood trauma in the development of dissociative tendencies, insufficient cognizance (in this context) has been taken of the distinction between pathological and nonpathological dissociation. In this study, the relationship between childhood trauma and both pathological and nonpathological dissociation was investigated in a sample of 100 Australian adults. Pathological dissociation was positively predicted by dimensions of childhood trauma, but no such relationship was found for nonpathological dissociation (psychological absorption). The data are consistent with the traumagenic model of the dissociative disorders, but factors other than childhood trauma may also be pertinent.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Dysfunction in smooth pursuit eye movements and history of childhood trauma.

Several commentators recently have advocated the view that a deficit in the performance of a smooth pursuit eye-movement task is a biological marker of the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. This study considered the possibility that such an impairment is due in part to experiential or acquired characteristics, and specifically, to a history of childhood trauma. A sample of 100 Australian adults performed a visual tracking task and completed a self-report measure of childhood trauma. Although the effect size was small, a relationship was found between eye-tracking performance and a childhood history of physical and emotional abuse. This finding suggests that eye-tracking performance may not be governed entirely by genetic factors, a possibility that has implications for the use of indices of smooth pursuit eye movement as a purely genetic marker of proneness to schizophrenia. Further investigation is needed to clarify the basis of the association between these deficits and childhood abuse.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Affective predictors of dissociation. II: Shame and guilt.

As a contribution to an understanding of the psychodynamics of dissociative disorders this study investigated proneness to shame and to guilt as predictors of dissociative tendencies. One hundred and three Australian university students completed self-report measures of dissociative tendencies, proneness to shame and to guilt, gender, and age. Proneness to shame, proneness to guilt, and age were found to contribute significantly to the prediction of dissociative tendencies. The data provide further support for the view that common affective consequences of childhood trauma may mediate between such trauma and the development of a dissociative coping style.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Dissociative tendencies and the sitting duck: are self-reports of dissociation and victimization symptomatic of neuroticism?

Previous research has shown dissociative tendencies are related to a reported history of childhood abuse. A recent study by Johnson, Edman, and Danko (1995) suggested, however, that dissociation may be associated with a more general tendency to recall and report negative life experiences. Johnson and colleagues hypothesized that the relationship between dissociation and self-reported victimization stems from their shared origin as neurotic symptoms. In a test of this hypothesis, Australian adults (N = 92) were administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief, the Bad Things Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between dissociation and self-reported victimization even after the contribution of neuroticism had been removed. Schizotypy also was found to be a predictor of dissociative tendencies. The hypothesis of Johnson and colleagues was rejected. The findings are discussed in relation to traumagenic models of dissociation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Attitudinal predictors of dissociation: hostility and powerlessness.

The relationship between dissociative tendencies and attitudes relating to aggression and powerlessness was investigated in a sample of 106 Australian psychology students. Dissociation was positively related to aspects of aggression and in particular to an attitude of hostility. Respondents' perceptions of their own powerlessness did not predict proneness to dissociative experiences. The data are consistent with the view that trauma-engendered attitudes and affects may be markers of the development of dissociative tendencies.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Alexithymia and dissociative tendencies.

This study is one of a series exploring the potential of affective variables as predictors of dissociative tendencies. Some clinicians have observed that traumatized children who develop a dissociative coping style also tend to fail to discriminate emotions by verbal means. The study therefore investigated a relationship between dissociation and alexithymia. Undergraduate psychology students were individually tested for dissociative tendencies, alexithymic characteristics, and ability to generate the names of emotions. Dissociation was found to be predicted by some aspects of alexithymia but not by affective fluency. The data are interpreted in terms of the concept of asymmetry of dissociative processes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Traumatic childhood events, perceived availability of emotional support, and the development of dissociative tendencies.

Past research has documented a link between childhood traumatic experiences and dissociative tendencies in adulthood. This study was undertaken to investigate the possibility that the previously reported link is purely an artifact of the level of emotional support available during childhood. A nonclinical sample of Australian adults was surveyed for the incidence of traumatic childhood events, the perceived availability of emotional support from intrafamilial and extrafamilial figures, and the presence of a dissociative coping style. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that perceived availability of emotional support in childhood was a predictor of current dissociative tendencies, but account of the support factor did not eliminate the relationship between childhood trauma and dissociation. The data are consistent with the view that lack of emotional support is an important mediator, but not a primary cause, of the development of dissociative tendencies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Codependence, narcissism, and childhood trauma.

Codependence has been held to be a product of living in a household with an alcoholic parent or, more generally, an outcome of childhood abuse. Codependent traits also have been proposed to have a complementary developmental relationship with narcissism. Australian adults (N = 190) were administered the Codependency Inventory, the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Narcissistic Personality Disorder scale, the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, and the Survey of Traumatic Childhood Events. Results indicated that codependence is not predictable by childhood trauma, and although a relationship between codependence and narcissism was established, it was rather more complex than that anticipated by the literature. These findings substantially weaken the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of codependency, and due caution should be exercised in psychotherapeutic applications of the concept.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Affective predictors of dissociation, III: Affect balance.

The relationship between dissociative tendencies and the balance of affective expression was investigated in a sample of 100 Australian psychology students. Dissociation was positively related to an imbalance of affect in favor of negative affects. Higher levels of dissociation were associated with more frequent experiences of negative affects but were unrelated to the expression of positive affects. The data are consistent with the view that trauma-related affects have a mediating role in the development of dissociative tendencies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Proneness to dissociation and traumatic childhood events.

Several researchers have proposed that proneness to dissociation in adulthood is linked developmentally with experiences of traumatic events in childhood. Past investigation of this hypothesis, however, typically has focused on very narrow samples of childhood trauma. In this study, dissociative experiences in adulthood were analyzed in relation to a broad measure of childhood trauma. Standard regression analysis revealed three predictors of dissociation, namely familial loss in childhood, intrafamilial sexual abuse, and extrafamilial sexual abuse. The data call for greater cognizance of childhood loss in the investigation of the origins of dissociative defenses.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Childhood trauma and the origins of paranormal belief: a constructive replication.

Previous research suggests that, as a group, people who believe in the paranormal tend to have a history of traumatic events in childhood. This relationship has been incorporated into Irwin's 1993 model of the psychological origins and functions of paranormal belief. A constructive replication of the relationship and a test of Irwin's model was undertaken in relation to a specific context, namely, a childhood spent with an alcoholic parent. Compared to 89 control participants, a sample of 32 adults who were children of alcoholics had stronger beliefs in witchcraft, superstitions, and precognition. The results are discussed in relation to two components of Irwin's model.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Paranormal belief and proneness to dissociation.

The study investigated the relationship between scores on paranormal belief and proneness to dissociation in a sample of 100 Australian students of psychology. Scores on dissociation were positively correlated with those on global paranormal belief and with belief in psi, precognition, spiritualism, and extraordinary life-forms. It is suggested that in some instances paranormal beliefs may be a component of a complex defensive framework constructed in the face of the perceived uncontrollability of life.

Adolescent↗