Examination of the Relationship Between Childhood Traumas and Dissociation, Social Appearance Anxiety and Gender Roles in People With and Without Aesthetic Surgery Experience

Abstract Background In the study, it was aimed to comparatively examine the relationships between childhood traumas, dissociative experiences, social appearance concerns and gender roles of people who have and do not have plastic surgery. Methods Socio-demographic Information Form, Childhood Trauma Scale, Dissociation Scale, Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, Gender Roles Attitude Scale were applied to 415 participants aged 18–55 residing in Istanbul. Participants in the research were reached through questionnaires created with the Google Forms application in electronic environment. Study data were evaluated with SPSS statistical analysis program. Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used for the normality distribution of the data. Normal distribution was not detected in the scales used. Results The relationship of the continuous variables was examined with the Spearman Correlation coefficient. According to the research findings, a positive relationship was found between childhood traumas scale scores and dissociation scale scores and social appearance anxiety scale scores of all participants, and a negative relationship with gender attitudes scale. Conclusion While the scores of the participants with plastic surgery experience in childhood traumas and all sub-scales, the identity confusion subscale of the dissociation scale, and the social appearance anxiety scale were higher than the participants who did not have plastic surgery, the childhood traumas of those with plastic surgery experience and the egalitarian and male gender roles were negatively correlated found to be in a relationship.