The Korean Version of the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale: Psychometric Properties and the Connection to Trauma among Korean Adolescents

OBJECTIVE The Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale (A-DES) is a screening measure for dissociative experience in adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability, validity and psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Adolescent Dissociative Experience Scale. METHODS The Korean version of the A-DES was administered to a normative group of 371 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years and a traumatized group of 33 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with known trauma. RESULTS The internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha=0.91) and the test-retest correlation of the A-DES was high (r=0.99). Correlation between the A-DES and other measures of dissociation was moderate (r=0.48). There were no significant age differences in mean total A-DES scores for the normative sample, or for boys or girls separately. Nor were there any significant gender differences for any age group. The mean total score of the A-DES was significantly higher in the traumatized group than in the normative group. There was a statistically significant difference between adolescents with self-reported trauma and those without a trauma history in the normative group. CONCLUSION This study demonstrated that the Korean version of the A-DES is a reliable measure with excellent internal consistency and good stability over a 4-week test-retest interval with single factor structure. It can be used to screen for dissociative symptoms in Korean adolescents between the ages 12 and 18.