JOYANNA SILBERG, Ph.D.
The Treatment of Dissociation in Sexually Abused Children from a Family/Attachment Perspective
Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training: Vol. 41, No. 4; pages 487–495
Published 2004
By Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D.
Drawing Conclusions: Confusion Between Data and Theory in the Traumatic Memory Debate
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse: Vol. 12 No. 2; pages 123-128
Published 2003
By Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D.
An Optimistic Look at Childhood Dissociation
The International Society for the Study of Dissociation: Vol. 19 No. 2; pages 14-15
Published March/April 2001
By Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D.
A President’s Perspective: The Human Face of the Diagnostic Controversy
Journal of Trauma & Dissociation: Volume 2 No. 1; pages 1-5
Published 2001
By Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D.
Fifteen Years of Dissociation in Maltreated Children: Where Do We Go From Here?
Child Maltreatment: Volume 5 No. 2; pages 119-136
Published May 2000
By Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D.
Dissociative symptomatology in children and adolescents as displayed on psychological testing
The Journal of Personality Assessment
Published December 1998
By Joyanna Silberg, Ph.D.
The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological testing features of children and adolescents with dissociative disorder diagnoses to provide diagnostic information that might facilitate early intervention. The psychological testing protocols of 30 children diagnosed with dissociative disorders were compared with the testing protocols of 30 consecutive admissions to the Sheppard Pratt Hospital who did not receive a dissociative identity disorder (DID; formerly termed multiple personality disorder) or dissociative disorder not otherwise specified (DDNOS) diagnosis. A rater, blind to the diagnosis, scored these protocols for the presence or absence of behavioral and testing response variables hypothesized to discriminate between the dissociative patients and the mixed group of other diagnoses. Behavioral features significantly more common in the dissociative group included forgetting, staring, unusual motor behaviors, dramatic fluctuations, fearful and angry reactions to stimuli, physical complaints during testing, and expressions of internal conflict. Significant indications of dissociation in the test responses included images of multiplicity, malevolent religiosity, dissociative coping, depersonalized imagery, emotional confusion, extreme dichotomization, images of mutilation and torture, and magical transformation. A combination of these behavioral and response variables was able to select 93% of the dissociative sample. These results add support to the discriminant validity of DID and DDNOS as diagnostic categories in childhood and provide clinical information that may be useful for early diagnosis of traumatized children with dissociative pathology.