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HYPNOTIZABILITY AND
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER:
A Prospective Study
1
RICHARD A. BRYANT,
2
RACHEL M. GUTHRIE,
MICHELLE L. MOULDS, REGINALD D.V. NIXON,
AND
KIM FELMINGHAM
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Abstract:
Although there is converging evidence that posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with higher levels of hypnotiz-
ability, there are no studies concerning the stability of hypnotizability
levels following trauma. Acutely traumatized participants with acute
stress disorder (
N
¼
45) were administered the Stanford Hypnotic
Clinical Scale (SHCS) within 4 weeks of their trauma. Participants
were subsequently administered a brief cognitive-behavior therapy
program. Six months after treatment, participants were re-assessed
with the SHCS. Although SHCS scores were generally stable (
r
¼
.47),
two thirds of participants responded differently across the 2 assess-
ments. Increased SHCS scores at the second assessment were corre-
lated with elevated PTSD avoidance scores. This finding suggests that
elevated hypnotizability in PTSD populations may not be entirely
stable and may be associated with specific PTSD responses.
There is convergent evidence that a range of psychological disorders
are associated with elevated levels of hypnotizability, including
dissociative disorders (Carlson & Putnam, 1989), eating disorders
(Covino, Jimerson, Wolfe, Franko, & Frankel, 1994), phobias (Frankel
& Orne, 1976), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Spiegel, Hunt,
& Dondershine, 1988; Stuntman & Bliss, 1985). The role of hypnotiz-
ability in PTSD has received considerable attention because of the
potential role of dissociation in trauma response, which is often man-
ifested in the form of flashbacks, emotional numbing, or dissociative
amnesia. One view suggests that higher levels of hypnotizability are
observed in these clinical populations, because these individuals have a
predisposition to dissociation that manifests itself in dissociative-type
disorders following stressful precipitants (Butler, Duran, Jasiukaitis,
Koopman, & Spiegel, 1996; Kihlstrom, Glisky, & Angiulo, 1994). A
Manuscript submitted November 19, 2002; final revision received March 4, 2003.
1
This research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
2
Address correspondence to Richard A. Bryant, School of Psychology, University of
New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia. E-mail: r.bryant@unsw.edu.au
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