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Disidentification, childhood trauma & stress: A mixed-methods approach
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Date
2026-02
Abstract
Social group memberships and related group-based processes, profoundly shape our psychological and physiological responses to trauma and stress. Following experiences of childhood trauma and stress, people may withdraw psychologically through dissociation and physiologically through blunted cardiovascular reactivity (CVR). Importantly, people may also withdraw socially, by actively detaching from their social groups, a process known as disidentification. Given the parallels between these forms of withdrawal, disidentification may influence both dissociation and CVR in the contexts of childhood trauma and social stress, with significant implications for health. Yet, its psychological and physiological impact remains largely unexplored. This thesis explores the psychological and physiological impact of disidentification using a social identity approach. Through three empirical studies, it explores how disidentification relates to dissociation following experiences of childhood trauma through a cross-sectional survey (Study 1) and a qualitative analysis (Study 2); and how disidentification relates to dysregulated cardiovascular reactivity following social stress through a laboratory experiment (Study 3).
Study 1 (N = 181) examines the relationship between disidentification and dissociation among a community sample affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Specifically, it investigates whether stigma related to ACEs and disidentification from others affected by ACEs are associated with dissociative symptoms. The results show that greater perceptions of ACEs as a stigmatising experience are linked to greater dissociation, with disidentification mediating this relationship. People affected by ACEs with strong stigma perceptions were more likely to disidentify from others affected by ACEs, which in turn was associated with higher dissociative symptoms. The findings demonstrate a link between social and personal withdrawal, via disidentification and dissociation.
Study 2 (N = 30) explored how Irish Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) survivors who chose to waive their right to anonymity described their experiences of disidentification and dissociation. Through a Reflexive Thematic Analysis of these survivor accounts, the findings illustrate an important connection between social and personal withdrawal. Survivors reported disidentification not only from other CSA survivors, but also from wider social groups. Survivors described disidentification and dissociation as intertwined aspects of their CSA experiences. This research provides novel insights into how survivors experienced social and personal withdrawal in the aftermath of their CSA.
Study 3 (N = 113) manipulated temporary disidentification using an experimental laboratory paradigm to measure its physiological impact in a healthy sample. This study also examined the effect of disidentification among participants reporting experiences of ACEs. Participants were induced to temporarily disidentify from their university via a writing task, before completing the Trier Social Stress Test, while their blood pressure and heart rate were continuously monitored. The results indicated that compared to participants in the control condition, those in the disidentification condition exhibited significantly lower CVR to the stress task, consistent with a blunted stress response. This blunted CVR was more noticeable in participants reporting more ACEs, suggesting childhood trauma may make people more sensitive to situations that challenge their social identity. The findings suggest that disidentification as social withdrawal may be a social identity mechanism shaping physiological withdrawal in the form of dysregulated CVR to stress, providing first experimental evidence that disidentification has physiological consequences.
Together, the findings of these studies demonstrate that disidentification has the capacity to shape how people psychologically and physiologically respond to traumatic and stressful experiences. Applying a social identity approach to explore disidentification following childhood trauma and stress has generated new theoretical insights and practical implications.
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Peer-reviewed
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University of Limerick
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Sustainable Development Goals
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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International