The development and preliminary validation of the cyber dissociative experiences scale: Its associations with childhood trauma, online dissociative experiences, and social media addiction

Background and aim

Social media addiction and childhood trauma can lead to dissociative reactions in cyberspace. Despite their significance, no scale currently exists to measure cyber dissociative experiences. To address this gap, this study aimed to develop and validate a scale for measuring cyber dissociative experiences and to examine the relationships between childhood trauma, dissociation, and social media addiction.

Methods

This study was conducted online between October and December 2024 using a convenience sample of 746 adults. Childhood trauma, online dissociative experiences, dissociation, and social media addiction were assessed using validated psychometric instruments. Through exploratory factor analysis in the first stage and confirmatory factor analysis in the second stage, we identified three higher‐order factors within the Cyber Dissociative Experiences Scale: cyber alter identity, cyber identity confusion, and cyber amnesia. Furthermore, we examined the mediating role of childhood trauma in the relationship between social media addiction and cyber dissociative experiences.

Results

The results indicated that the scale demonstrates an excellent model fit, adequate reliability, and high construct validity. Among the participants, 205 (27.5 %) reported pathological dissociation, 340 (45.6 %) reported childhood trauma, and 487 (65.4 %) reported social media addiction. A significant correlation was found between childhood trauma, dissociation (including online and cyber dissociative experiences), and social media addiction. Moreover, childhood trauma was found to partially mediate the relationship between social media addiction and cyber dissociative experiences.

Conclusion

Overall, this study introduces a valuable tool for assessing cyber dissociative experiences.