Anger, dissociation, and posttraumatic stress disorder among female assault victims.

The goal of the present study was to explore the relationship between anger and dissociation and their relationship to symptoms of post-trauma pathology. One hundred four female assault victims were assessed prospectively 2, 4, and 12 weeks post-assault. Measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity, social functioning, anger, and dissociation were obtained at all assessments. Results revealed that differentiation between symptoms that predict later PTSD and impaired social functioning first becomes evident at 4 weeks post-assault. At 4 weeks post-assault, anger expression was predictive of later PTSD severity, whereas dissociation was predictive of poorer later functioning.