Abstract

The present contribution examines the validation in the Italian context of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) developed by Bernstein and Putnam (1986) in the English context. The scale measures the frequency of dissociative experiences in the daily lives of subjects (absorption and imaginative involvement, experiences of depersonalization and derealization, amnestic dissociation). The validity of the scale has been examined by means of principal components analysis resulting in a monofactorial structure. The reliability was satisfactory and was similar across different geographic areas.