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Interpersonal Trauma and the Inventory of Altered Self-capacities

Interpersonal Trauma and the Inventory of Altered Self-capacities. Marsha Runtz, University of Victoria John Briere, University of Southern California. Background.

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Interpersonal Trauma and the Inventory of Altered Self-capacities

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  1. Interpersonal Trauma and the Inventory of Altered Self-capacities Marsha Runtz, University of Victoria John Briere, University of Southern California

  2. Background • Identity issues, problems relating to others, and affect control problems are associated with some types of personality disorders • Survivors of child maltreatment and other forms of interpersonal trauma often have difficulties in these areas

  3. Inventory of Altered Self-capacities (IASC) • Developed by John Briere (2000), USC • Standardized with 620 randomly sampled U.S. participants • 63-item test of Self-capacities (i.e., relatedness, identity, affect regulation) • 7 scales (two with 2 subscales each)

  4. Concept of Self-capacities • Involves three important adult tasks: • Formation and maintenance of meaningful relationships • Maintenance of a stable sense of personal identity and self-awareness • Ability to control and tolerate strong affect Briere (1997); Kohut (1977); McCann & Perlman (1990)

  5. Self-capacities on the IASC • Relatedness (3 scales): formation and maintenance of meaningful relationships • Interpersonal Conflicts (IC) • Idealization-Disillusionment (ID) • Abandonment Concerns (AC)

  6. Self-capacities on the IASC • Identity (2 scales): stable personal identity & self-awareness • Identity Impairment (II): 2 subscales • Self-awareness (II-S) • Identity Diffusion (II-D) • Susceptibility to Influence (SI)

  7. Self-capacities on the IASC • Affect Control (2 scales): control and tolerance of strong affect • Affect Dysregulation (AD) : 2 subscales • Affect Skills Deficits (AD-S) • Affect Instability (AD-I) • Tension Reduction Activities (TRA)

  8. Relatedness Scales • Interpersonal Conflicts: • Problems in relationships (romantic relationships, friendships, work or school relationships) • Involvement in chaotic, emotionally upsetting, and sometimes short-lived relationships • Potential for early termination of therapy

  9. Relatedness Scales • Idealization-Disillusionment • Dramatic change of one’s opinions about significant others (very positive to very negative) • Initial idealization changes to feelings of betrayal or disappointment • Similar dynamic may appear in the course of therapy

  10. Relatedness Scales • Abandonment Concerns • Sensitivity to perceived or actual abandonment by significant others • Expect and fear the termination of important relationships • May react to therapist’s unavoidable absences with excessive distress

  11. Identity Scales • Identity Impairment • difficulty in maintaining a coherent sense of identity and self-awareness • Self-awareness: lack of awareness of one’s goals and needs, or basis of one’s behavior • Identity Diffusion: tendency to confuse one’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives with those of others

  12. Identity Scales • Susceptibility to Influence • Tendency to follow the directions of others without sufficient self-consideration and to accept uncritically other’s statements or assertions • May be more suggestible to therapeutic suggestions

  13. Affect Control Scales • Affect Dysregulation • Problems in affect regulation, including mood swings and inhibiting anger expression • Affect Skills Deficits: underlying deficits in affect control • Affect Instability: actual rapid changes in mood

  14. Affect Control Scales • Tension Reduction Activities • Reacts to painful internal states and affects with externalizing behaviors • Attempts to distract, soothe, or reduce internal distress • Externalizes when feeling frustrated, angry, or otherwise internally stressed

  15. Qualities of the IASC • Standardized & validated in 4 sample • Normative sample (n = 620) • Clinical sample (n = 116) • University sample (UVic; n = 290) • Community sample (n = 33) • Strong reliability and validity

  16. Participants

  17. Measurement of Trauma • Detailed Assessment of Post-traumatic Stress (DAPS; Briere, 2001) • 12 item checklist to screen for trauma • Assesses potential Interpersonal trauma (IPT) and Non-interpersonal trauma (NIPT)

  18. Traumatic Events (DAPS) • Interpersonal Trauma (IPT) 9 items including: • Robbery or physical assault • Child sexual and physical abuse • Sexual assault • Witness another person get seriously hurt

  19. Traumatic Events (DAPS) • Non-Interpersonal Trauma (NIPT) • Automobile accident • Serious work or home accident • Natural disasters (e.g., fire, earthquake)

  20. Potentially Traumatic Experiences

  21. Results • Examined the relationship of IPT and NIPT to the subscales of the IASC (using sex as a covariate): • only IPT was significant, F (7,553) = 4.26, p<.001 • Univariate analyses: IPT was related to all 7 subscales of the IASC

  22. Post-hoc Univariate Results: • IPT was associated with greater: • Interpersonal Conflicts F(1,559) = 10.8 • Idealization-Disillusionment F(1,559) = 22.0 • Abandonment Concerns F(1,559) = 13.3 • Identity Impairment F(1,559) = 10.1 • Susceptibility to Influence F(1,559) = 11.9 • Affect Dysregulation F(1,559) = 19.4 • Tension Reduction Activities F(1,559) = 19.6 • all at p < .001

  23. Multiple Traumatic Events • 56% with any trauma had more than one traumatic event • Higher numbers of traumas were correlated with higher the scores on all IASC scales (range, r = .11 to r = .25; all at p<.001) • Those with more than one trauma had higher scores on all scales except Identity Impairment

  24. Conclusions • Being victimized by other people appears to influence difficulties with self-capacities • The ability to maintain a stable identity, to function well in relationships, and to effectively regulate strong affect are linked to interpersonal victimization events

  25. Conclusions • As expected, greater amounts of trauma overall are associated with greater difficulties with self-capacities • Those individuals with clinical elevations on the self-capacity scales also tended to have experienced interpersonal trauma

  26. Clinical Implications • Interpersonal victimization “effects” may influence the therapeutic relationship • Therapists may be guided in their treatment of victims of violence by their assessment of client self-capacities • “Corrective emotional experiences” in the interpersonal realm during therapy may be particularly helpful when working with victims of IPT

  27. Limitations of the Study • Alternative explanations: poor self-capacities may be a risk factor for IPT • Generalization difficulties due to the sample type • Measurement limitations regarding use of only screening questions for important types of victimization (e.g., child sexual abuse)

  28. Future Research • Other studies are being conducted using more in-depth questions to assess IPT • More diverse samples need to be tested • More complex models (e.g., mediational models) require examination • Clinical outcome studies of therapies dealing with self-capacities are needed

  29. For more information… • On this study: Contact Marsha Runtz, PhD University of Victoria, runtz@uvic.ca • On the IASC: See John Briere’s web page: www.johnbriere.com Order the test from PAR: 1-800-331-TEST or Go to www.parinc.com

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