Objectives: The goal of this study is to investigate the applicability of the German adaptation of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, the "Fragebogen zu dissoziativen Symptomen (FDS)", for research on depersonalization (DP) and derealization (DR), and to elucidate the phenomenology of DP / DR.
Methods: 101 consecutively recruited inpatients were diagnosed with the German version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders for depersonalization/derealization. Furthermore, the FDS and the SCL-90-R were administered.
Results: 47 of 101 Patients were diagnosed with pathological DP / DR. The mean score of the DES scale of the FDS was 32.00 +/- 15.52. A cut-off score of 17.5 for the DES scale of the FDS yielded a 83.0 % sensitivity and 77.8 % specificity. Depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and trauma-associated disorders were the most common comorbidity.
Conclusions: The findings are comparable to the Anglo-American samples. The FDS was found to be quite effective for screening of DP / DR. The three-factor solution of the FDS was not well supported in this sample.