The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma, Pathological Dissociation, and Behavioral Addictions in Young Adults: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACTABSTRACTInteractions between childhood trauma (CT) and dissociation can contribute to psychiatric disturbances. We explored this phenomenon in relation to behavioral addictions (BAs) in a sample (n = 633) of young adults (age: 18–34 years). Self-report measures investigating CT, dissociation, and symptoms related to gambling disorder, internet gaming disorder, problematic social media use, exercise dependence and compulsive buying were used. Scales related to BAs were summarized into a single measure (“Total Behavioral Addiction Index” – TBAI) for inferential analyses. A model analyzing the direct and indirect effects of CT on TBAI through the mediation of pathological dissociation was performed, controlling for confounding factors. Measures on CT, dissociation, and TBAI were significantly associated with each other (all p < .001). The total effect of CT on TBAI was significant (B = 0.063; CI: 0.045; 0.081); pathological dissociation significantly mediated such association (B = 0.023; CI: 0.013; 0.036). Our findings support the possibility that the interaction between CT and dissociation contributes to increase disturbances related to BAs.KEYWORDS: Childhood traumadissociationaddictionbehavioral addictionspsychopathology AcknowledgmentsThe authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the “European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet” (CA16207) funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology for intellectually supporting the study.Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data Availability StatementAggregated data may be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Supplementary DataSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2023.2181479Additional informationFundingNo external funding was received for conducting this study.