Validation of the Italian version of the dissociative experience scale for adolescents and young adults

Abstract: Background: The Dissociative Experience Scale for adolescent (A-DES), a 30-item, multidimensional, self-administeredquestionnaire, was validated using a large sample of American young people sample. We reported the linguistic validation process and the metric validity of the Italian version of A-DES in the Italy.Methods: A set of questionnaires was provided to a total of 633 participants from March 2015 to April 2016. The participantsconsisted of 282 boys and 351 girls, and their average age was between 18 and 24 years old. The translationprocess consisted of two consecutive steps: forward–backward translation and acceptability testing. The psychometrictesting was applied to Italian students who were recruited from the Italian Public Schools and Universities in Sicily.Informed consent was obtained from all participants at the research. All individuals completed the A-DES. Reliabilityand validity were tested.Results: The translated version was validated on a total of 633 Italian students. The reliability of A-DES total is .926. Itis composed by 4 subscales: Dissociative amnesia, Absorption and imaginative involvement, Depersonalization andderealization, and Passive influence. The reliability of each subscale is: .756 for dissociative amnesia, .659 for absorptionand imaginative involvement, .850 for depersonalization and derealization, and .743 for passive influence.Conclusions: The Italian version of the A-DES constitutes a useful instrument to measure dissociative experience inadolescents and young adults in Italy.