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.