Clinical instrument

Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II)

A 28-item self-report measure of the frequency of dissociative experiences in daily life (rated as a percentage of the time). Public-domain instrument intended for use under clinician supervision.

This is a clinical instrument. It is not publicly self-administered; a clinician assigns it through a secure patient link.

You learn how often you have dissociative experiences and which kinds are most common for you.

For anyone who sometimes feels spaced out, unreal or loses track of time.

It comes from trauma research on how often everyday and more unusual dissociative experiences occur.

Sample result, example data. Illustrative chart with invented scores; it does not describe any real respondent.

Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) box

What this test is

Welcome. A 28-item self-report measure of the frequency of dissociative experiences in daily life (rated as a percentage of the time). Public-domain instrument intended for use under clinician supervision.

The measure

The Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (DES-II) was developed by Carlson and Putnam (1993). It has 28 items, each answered on a 11-point (0% … 100%) scale.

Carlson, E. B., & Putnam, F. W. (1993). An update on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Dissociation, 6(1), 16–27. Bernstein, E. M., & Putnam, F. W. (1986). Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174(12), 727–735. Released by the authors for free clinical and research use (public domain).

At a glance

Items

Response scale

11-point (0% … 100%)

Est. time

~4 min

Access

Assigned only · no per-report charge

What it measures

Twenty-eight experiences describe dissociation, the partial separation of thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of self that are ordinarily connected. Some are common: driving somewhere and suddenly realizing that one does not remember part of the trip, or becoming so absorbed in a film that one loses awareness of the surroundings. Others are rarer: finding oneself in a place with no idea how one got there, feeling that one's body does not belong to oneself, or not recognizing friends or family. Each is rated by the percentage of the time it happens, from never to always.

Bernstein and Putnam (1986) developed the scale to measure dissociation as a continuum running from everyday absorption to the experiences seen in dissociative disorders. Carlson and Putnam (1993) revised the response format into the current version. Waller, Putnam and Carlson (1996) later showed that a subset of the items identifies a more pathological form of dissociation that is distinct from ordinary absorption.

The percentages are averaged into a total. Lower totals describe dissociative experiences that are occasional and largely of the everyday, absorptive kind; higher totals describe more frequent and more disruptive ones, such as gaps in memory and feelings of unreality. A high score suggests that a careful clinical assessment may be useful; it is a screen, not a diagnosis.

The scale is used in trauma and dissociation research and in clinical services. On this site, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) measures posttraumatic stress, which often accompanies dissociation, and the Dissociation scales built from personality items describe absorption, amnesia and depersonalization separately.

Validity evidence

Strong convergent validity with other dissociation measures; a mean of 30 distinguishes dissociative disorders with good sensitivity and specificity (Carlson et al., 1993).

Example item

“Some people have the experience of driving or riding in a car or bus or subway and suddenly realizing that they don't remember what has happened during all or part of the trip.”

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.

Scoring & interpretation

Responses are averaged onto a 0–100 scale and compared against published screening cutoffs.

The report explains which published screening bands your score falls in and what they mean.

References

Bernstein, E. M., & Putnam, F. W. (1986). Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174(12), 727-735.
Carlson, E. B., & Putnam, F. W. (1993). An update on the Dissociative Experiences Scale. Dissociation, 6(1), 16-27.
van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Schuengel, C. (1996). The measurement of dissociation in normal and clinical populations: meta-analytic validation of the DES. Clinical Psychology Review, 16(5), 365-382.

Sample report preview

The report shows your total score and where it falls across the range of possible scores, followed by a plain-language explanation of what scores in that region describe. Where the instrument has published interpretive bands, the report names the band and what it means. It closes with notes on how to read the result and on when a conversation with a qualified professional may be useful.

Report contents
Section	What it shows
Score	Your scale score, computed with the published scoring key.
Score bands	Where your score falls among the published bands listed on this page.

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