Dream content in pregnancy and postpartum: Refined exploration of continuity between waking and dreaming.

The present study is an extension of previous work on the dreams of pregnant women, with a large sample from pregnancy and postpartum. In total, 143 pregnant women completed dream diaries during 3 distinct periods. Also, 125 nonpregnant women completed a dream diary on 1 occasion. Pregnancy- and motherhood-related oneiric characteristics, as well as negative versus positive dream elements, were coded by 2 independent judges. Results revealed that pregnant women experienced more direct in-dream representations of pregnancy and motherhood than the comparison group. However, no differences in oneiric emotional content were observed between the 2 groups. Results support the continuity hypothesis with respect to thematic representations of pregnancy but are inconclusive regarding emotional content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Dreaming - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research