Childhood Invalidating Environments Are Associated With Dissociative Symptoms and Resting-State EEG Power in Argentine Adults: A Pilot Study

Adverse childhood experiences are robustly linked to mental health difficulties, with perceived emotional invalidation emerging as a key mechanism linking diverse forms of early adversity. Prior research has reported resting-state EEG alterations in this population with emotional invalidation. In the current pilot study, 10 general-population participants completed the ICES (Invalidating Childhood Environment Scale) and the DES-M (Dissociative Experiences Scale), followed by a 5-minute resting-state EEG recording, including both eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions. Relative power in alpha and beta bands was analyzed. Results indicated a strong association between dissociative symptoms and mother-related perceived invalidation, absorption- dissociative traits and depersonalization. Total scores for maternal invalidation correlated with increased beta during eyes-closed, suggesting persistent hyperactivation and atypical alpha-beta desynchronization. Maternal invalidation also correlated with increased beta during eyes-open, reflecting heightened alertness. Increased alpha during eyes-open correlated with higher dissociation and absorption, suggesting attentional disconnection and regulatory difficulties consistent with previous reports. These preliminary findings indicate that invalidation and dissociation exhibit differentiated resting-state EEG profiles, with beta increases possibly marking hypervigilance and alpha increases indexing dissociative absorption