抄録
Clinical reports thus far indicate that patients with dissociative disorders exhibit cutaneous sensory symptoms. However, only few studies focused on the relationship between these symptoms and dissociation. Here, we investigated the relationships among cutaneous symptoms (Cutaneous9), somatoform dissociation (SDQ-20), and self-reported history of childhood abuse (CATS) in undergraduates (N＝368). Exploratory factor analysis performed simultaneously on the scores of Cutaneous9 and SDQ-20 items, extracted four factors- “Somatic paralysis,” “Perceptual change,” “Cutaneous symptoms,” and “Urogenital symptoms and motor inhibition.” Analysis of variance demonstrated that the group with high CATS scores tends to have high “Somatic paralysis” and “Perceptual change” factor scores, supporting previous findings that these symptoms are relatively common in patients with pathological dissociation, and those with traumatic childhood experiences. These symptoms are considered to be similar to animal defensive reactions that are mediated by endogenous opioids. Moreover, items including “tingling,” “numbness,” and “tender to touch” in Cutaneous9 converged on the “Somatic paralysis” factor together with certain SDQ-20 items, suggesting that these cutaneous symptoms might be associated with pathological tendencies and traumatic childhood experiences.
