Psychometric properties of the Turkish maladaptive daydreaming scale-16 in a psychiatric clinical sample enriched with dissociative disorders
European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, cilt.10, sa.3, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 10 Sayı: 3
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.ejtd.2026.100732
- Dergi Adı: European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Dissociation, Dissociative disorders, Emotion regulation, Fantasy proneness, Maladaptive daydreaming, MDS-16, Psychometric validation
- Akdeniz Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Background: Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is characterized by vivid, immersive, and difficult-to-control fantasy activity that may cause distress and functional impairment. Although the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale-16 (MDS-16) has been validated in Turkish non-clinical samples, its psychometric properties in heterogeneous psychiatric populations, particularly among patients with dissociative disorders (DD), remain insufficiently examined. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability, factorial validity, measurement invariance, and convergent validity of the Turkish MDS-16 in a psychiatric clinical sample enriched with patients with DD. Methods: The sample consisted of 316 adult psychiatric outpatients, including 58 patients with DD and 258 patients with other psychiatric disorders. Participants completed the MDS-16, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Creative Experiences Questionnaire, and Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to compare one-factor, two-factor, and four-factor models. Measurement invariance across DD status, internal consistency, convergent validity, group differences, and hierarchical regression models were examined. Results: The two-factor model showed acceptable fit according to CFI, TLI, and SRMR, although RMSEA remained elevated. The four-factor model showed slightly better global fit but was not retained because of inadmissible latent factor correlations. Internal consistency was excellent for the MDS-16 total score and both subscales. Preliminary measurement invariance analyses supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance across DD status. MDS-16 total scores were positively associated with dissociation, fantasy proneness, emotion regulation difficulties, and adverse childhood experiences. Patients with DD reported significantly higher MDS-16 scores than patients without DD. In hierarchical regression analysis, dissociative experiences emerged as the strongest independent predictor of MDS-16 scores and explained additional variance beyond demographic variables, fantasy proneness, adverse childhood experiences, and emotion regulation difficulties. Conclusions: The Turkish MDS-16 appears to be a reliable and valid measure for assessing MD symptoms in psychiatric clinical samples. The findings support the clinical relevance of assessing MD symptoms, particularly among patients with dissociative symptoms, and suggest a strong association between MD and dissociative experiences.