Effects of a Qi Gong Program on Dissociative Symptoms in Patients Who Have Experienced Childhood Trauma: a Randomized Controlled Trial (Qi-T)

Effects of a Qi Gong Program on Dissociative Symptoms in Patients Who Have Experienced Childhood Trauma: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether participation in 12 Qi Gong sessions (intervention group), compared with usual care without Qi Gong (control group), reduces dissociative symptoms, as measured by the Dissociative Experience Scale-II (DES-II), between T0 and T1, in outpatients hospitalized for psychiatric disorders related to aversive experiences during childhood.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

- a) To assess whether participation in the Qi Gong program leads to a reduction in symptoms related to complex trauma, b) To assess whether participation in the Qi Gong program leads to an increase in the level of mindfulness c) To explore whether the effect of the Qi Gong program on reducing dissociative symptoms varies according to participants' baseline level of dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale-II ) d) To explore whether the effect of the Qi Gong program on reducing dissociative symptoms is sustained over time e) To explore the experiences of patients who participated in the Qi Gong sessions following the intervention.

This is a randomized controlled trial with parallel groups:

• Intervention group: participation in 12 Qi Gong sessions led by a trained professional, in addition to standard care
• Control group: standard care, without access to Qi Gong sessions during the study period.

Participants will be required to:

• complete 3 questionnaires (DES-II, ITQ, MAAS)
• attend one Qi Gong session per week for 12 weeks (including a group debriefing) or receive standard care at a medical-psychological center (without Qi Gong)
• complete the same questionnaires (DES-II, ITQ, MAAS) after the 12 weeks
• complete the DES-II questionnaire 2 months later

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years of age or older
• A score above the 10th percentile on the Dissociative Experience Scale-II (DES-II)
• A score above 2 on the ACE scale (Adverse Childhood Experiences by Felitti et al., 1998)
• A medical certificate attesting to the participant's fitness to practice Qigong
• A person enrolled in or receiving benefits from a social security program
• Free, informed, and written consent signed by the participant and the investigator (no later than the day of enrollment and prior to any examination required by the study).

Exclusion Criteria:

• In a suicidal crisis
• In a hallucinatory crisis
• Experiencing a major depressive episode
• Unstabilized
• Pregnant women
• Those who do not understand French
• Under guardianship or conservatorship
• Under judicial protection