Dissociative functioning and its relationship to state and trait guilt in the non-clinical population

The present aim was to extend recent work on the relationship between dissociation and guilt in the non-clinical population. The Questionnaire of Experiences of Dissociation (Riley, 1988; QED) and the Guilt Inventory (Kugler & Jones, 1992a), which measures trait and state guilt, were administered to 259 Australian university students. Results indicated that trait guilt was a significant predictor of dissociative experience. However, no relationship was found between dissociation and state guilt. The results extend Irwinʹs (in press) findings and are discussed in terms of the trauma-based model of dissociation and the interpersonal theory of guilt.