Concretization as a possible mechanism of nightmare proneness: Some theoretical considerations and empirical findings.
Dreaming, Vol 34(1), Mar 2024, 8-25; doi:10.1037/drm0000265Nightmare proneness, a disposition to experience frequent nightmares, has been found to predict nightmares independent of neuroticism, psychological distress, and trauma symptoms. One theorized mechanism of nightmare proneness is concretization, a hypothetical defensive style in which vague and unpleasant inner states are made more tangible. The possible role of concretization in nightmare proneness and nightmares has not been examined empirically. The current research investigates the relationships between concretization, nightmare proneness, and nightmares across...
Source: Dreaming - March 28, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Nightmare types and suicide.
Dreaming, Vol 34(1), Mar 2024, 1-7; doi:10.1037/drm0000261Previous research has robustly documented the relationship between sleep and suicide, where many aspects of poor sleep quality, sleep disturbances, and sleep disorders have been found to predict suicide. Research has also linked nightmares to suicide. It is not known, however, if nightmare types (idiopathic, trauma-related, and complex nightmares [nightmares with comorbid sleep and breathing diagnoses]) may differentially affect mental health. Thus, the current study examines the relationships between different nightmare types, suicide attempts, and mental health tr...
Source: Dreaming - March 28, 2024 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Relationship between trait anxiety and emotions in dreams, evaluated in older adults.
This study examines the relationship between trait anxiety levels, emotions in dreams, dream recall frequency (DRF), and potential gender differences within older adults. A total of 22 participants (nine men and 13 women) were recruited from the seniors group at Complutense University of Madrid (Mage = 64.9 years). Each participant initially completed the trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T) questionnaire and also maintained a dream diary for 2 weeks, providing assessments of the valence, arousal, and intensity of each of the basic emotions experienced in dreams. Results showed a modest correlation ...
Source: Dreaming - November 16, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Veteran treatment completers’ and facilitators’ perceptions of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and imagery rehearsal therapy for posttraumatic sleep disturbances.
This study was conducted after a pilot randomized controlled trial that compared CBT-I with CBT-I combined with imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) in a sample of Australian veterans with diagnosed posttraumatic stress disorder and sleep disturbances. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with veterans who completed group CBT-I or group CBT-I + IRT (n = 11), and a focus group was conducted with the facilitators who delivered the treatments (n = 3). The study examined participants’ experiences and perspectives of the treatments, and their acceptability for veterans. Inductive thematic analysis led to the identif...
Source: Dreaming - November 13, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The priming effect of presleep conscious thoughts on dreams.
In this study, we explored the influence of presleep conscious thoughts on dreams. One hundred forty-eight participants reported any thoughts that came to their minds before falling asleep, and reported their dreams the next morning after they woke up. Then, two independent judges rated similar correspondences (characters, objects, locations, and actions) between each participant’s conscious thoughts and dreams of the same person. In addition, the judges used the same method to rate similar correspondences between each participant’s conscious thoughts and dreams of another participant (the randomized condition). The re...
Source: Dreaming - September 25, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Dangerous waters: The impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on survivor dream content.
Dreaming, Vol 33(4), Dec 2023, 369-387; doi:10.1037/drm0000254Episodic memories of emotionally salient and personally significant events are often incorporated into dreams, although rarely replayed identically to the original waking event except in replicative posttraumatic nightmares. We investigated, in five Swedish female 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami survivors, how episodic memories of the catastrophe were reflected in their dreams after trauma, both in retrospectively recalled nightmares and bad dreams, and in prospective dream diaries completed several months after the catastrophe. We also assessed whether the emotional ...
Source: Dreaming - September 4, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Comparative analysis of three lucid dreaming techniques.
In this study, we compare the effectiveness of different LD induction techniques, including phantom wiggling, observing images, and imagining movements. All the techniques are intended to transfer consciousness from wakefulness into a dream. In an online experiment, volunteers were instructed to try each of the techniques three times following each of the following methods: while falling asleep in the evening (direct method [DM]), while falling asleep after an interrupted sleep (deferred direct method [DDM]), and immediately upon awakening (indirect method [IM]). A report was considered successful if at least one attempt o...
Source: Dreaming - August 31, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The neuroelectric alignment of dreaming: The sleep/dream state frequencies of consciousness.
This article presents a restructuring of the classification of dreaming in which the states of dreaming, like the states of sleep, are tied to their defining electrophysiology. Each sleep stage is characterized by a phenomenologically distinct form of dreaming associated with the specific physiologic brain frequency used to define each sleep/dream state. These different forms of sleep-state-associated consciousness have significant phenomenological, physiologic, and electrophysiologic differences, yet in most current literature they are all considered to be a loosely defined state called dreaming. This proposed neuroelectr...
Source: Dreaming - August 17, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Pandemic dreams: A qualitative analysis of dream imagery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This article examines the content of dreams collected during the beginning of containment due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy (between March and May 2020). Dreams in our sample were compared to the Hall and van de Castle norms. In accordance with the continuity hypothesis, contents of dreams were found to be influenced by the daytime experiences of the pandemic: (a) they were dominated by negative emotions such as fear and anxiety; (b) they depicted a diminished number of social interactions; (c) in aggressive interactions the dreamers were more often enacting the role of the victim; and (d) there was a higher number of ...
Source: Dreaming - August 10, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
You are what you dream: The dark tetrad and dream content.
Dreaming, Vol 33(4), Dec 2023, 434-445; doi:10.1037/drm0000252Previous research has found behaviors associated with personality traits can be found in the dreams of those who possess them, suggesting a continuum between dreaming and waking life. The present study sought to investigate the association between dark tetrad traits (psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sadism) and dream content. One hundred thirty-seven participants completed questionnaires measuring dark tetrad traits and fighting, sexual, and grandiosity themes of dream content. Correlation analyses revealed significant positive relationships betwee...
Source: Dreaming - August 3, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
A coding system for correlations between waking-life experiences and dreams.
Dreaming, Vol 34(1), Mar 2024, 85-98; doi:10.1037/drm0000249The correlation between waking-life experiences and dreams could be rated by both dreamers themselves (the self-rating) and independent judges (the external-rating). Yet a problem was whether results of these ratings were meaningful. To address the problem, we compared results of the external-rating with a random condition for coincidental correspondence which instructed judges to rate similar elements between each participant’s dreams with another participant’s waking-life experiences. Ninety-eight participants recorded major daily activities (MDAs), personal...
Source: Dreaming - July 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Relational nightmares: A new scale and test of the continuity hypothesis of dreams applied to nightmares in a young adult sample.
This study examined whether the content themes of unpleasant waking relational experiences are reflected in relational nightmares. A new relationship-themed nightmare scale was developed and was found to be related to general trauma, negative affect, and negative waking relational experiences such as relational worries, insecure attachment styles, and grief, but not positive waking relational experiences such as social support and friendship closeness. Among the waking relational experiences, grief was a particularly strong and unique predictor of relational nightmares. The results and avenues of future research are discus...
Source: Dreaming - July 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Dreaming reflects neural resynchronization after sleep-dependent neuroplastic adaptations.
Dreaming, Vol 33(4), Dec 2023, 421-433; doi:10.1037/drm0000250Synchronous and coordinated neural electrical activity is essential for proper mental functioning in the wake state. Sleep-dependent neuroplastic repair and adaptation that occur because of oxidative damage, inflammation, learning, and memory formation fostered by wake state experiences alter the finely tuned electrical activity of neurons. Resynchronization after neuroplastic repair and adaptation, but before waking, is needed to redress such adverse effects. These circuit-specific resynchronizations restore the unique sequential activity patterns needed for th...
Source: Dreaming - July 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Dreaming of the sleep lab is associated with improved performance on a sign language learning task: A pilot study.
Dreaming, Vol 33(3), Sep 2023, 235-243; doi:10.1037/drm0000245Evidence suggests that dream content, such as dreaming about a learning task, is associated with improved task performance following sleep. Given links between sleep and language learning, we conducted a morning nap study to assess whether dream content correlates with improvement on a sign language learning task. We collected data from 16 participants who completed a sign language vocabulary learning and recall task before and after a 2-hr nap opportunity. Participants were awakened from REM sleep and asked to report a dream and rate the extent to which their d...
Source: Dreaming - July 20, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Attachment, childhood trauma, and dreaming.
Dreaming, Vol 33(3), Sep 2023, 221-234; doi:10.1037/drm0000239Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between psychological attachment, childhood trauma, and a variety of dream experiences. Study 1 involved 114 Chinese young adults, with 100 Chinese young adults in Study 2. In both studies, participants completed the Revised/Adult Attachment Scale, Dream Intensity Scale, Ego Ideal Scale, Object Relation Scale, and Paranoiac Relation Scale. In addition to these scales, the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire was adopted in Study 2. Study 1 showed that attachment anxiety positively predicted dream them...
Source: Dreaming - June 12, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
