Book preferences and nightmares: The U.K. library study.

Nightmares are defined as disturbing mental experiences that generally occur during REM sleep and often result in awakening. The continuity hypothesis of dreaming would predict that media consumption arousing anxious feelings might increase nightmare frequency. Whereas there is some research on the effect of watching TV and playing computer games on dreams, research examining the relationship between reading and nightmares is scarce. The present study carried out in 3,535 children and adolescents showed that the preference for reading scary stories is positively related to nightmare frequency, whereas preferring fiction (novels and stories) is negatively related to nightmare frequency. To determine whether this is a causal effect, future studies should use experimental designs and test whether reading—even though it is not the most commonly used media form—can affect children in a negative way or whether reading specific books offering strategies for coping with nightmares can have beneficial effects on children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Dreaming - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research