The study of the complex relationship between trauma and dissociation has increasingly recognized the importance of the family system and relational patterns in contemporary research. Changes in the presumed structure of the dissociative disorders have been the major theme of recent works in the field, which have led to new theoretical understandings of the mechanisms related to the development of these disorders. Of interest in this study is the structural relationship of the family environment, abuse trauma, attachment style and dissociation. Measures collected from a sample of 780 participants involved in a treatment program for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse were analyzed. Data analysis consisted of Latent Variable Path Analysis (LVPA), a form of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) that includes both measurement and structural components of path analysis. A reciprocal causal relationship between family environment and abuse was found, along with mediating effects of both variables for attachment style, which in turn moderated the symptoms of dissociation. Implications for clinical treatment and future research are discussed. A model comparison also supports the conceptualization of two distinct forms of dissociation, termed compartmentalization and detachment.