A new study published in the Journal of Sleep Research has shed light on the factors that contribute to nightmare distress. According to the study, childhood abuse and critical life events play a more significant role than violent dream content in how distressed people feel about their nightmares.
In order to conduct the study, the researchers enlisted the help of an online sample of participants who ranged from 18 to 61 years of age. 103 participants in total participated in the study, with the majority of these identifying as being female and students or employed. Participants were instructed to keep a structured online dream diary for 28 consecutive days. The diary asked participants to fill out daily sleep behaviour and dream questionnaires. The second part of the diary focused on the dream contents of the previous night. Participants rated the intensity of positive and negative emotions in their dreams on a 4-point scale, and also indicated if they perceived the dream as a nightmare.
Measurement instruments used in the study included a questionnaire to assess dream recall frequency, the Life Event Scale to assess critical life events experienced by participants in the past year, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to measure traumatic childhood experiences. Nightmare distress was assessed using the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire.
Among the recorded dreams, approximately 27.8% were labelled nightmares by the participants. This indicates that nightmares were a relatively common occurrence during the study period. The study found that nightmare distress was associated with critical life events, traumatic childhood experiences (specifically emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse) and the presence of violent dream contents. The study suggests that individuals who experienced more critical life events and childhood traumas tended to have higher levels of distress related to nightmares.
Interestingly, the study found that emotional appraisal, traumatic childhood experiences and critical life events had a greater impact on nightmare distress than the actual content of the nightmares. The way in which the nightmare was emotionally interpreted played a more significant role in causing distress than the specific content of the nightmares themselves.
Despite the findings of the study, there are some limitations. According to the researchers, the study simplified the assessment of violent dream content by using binary response, which could have limited the depth of analysis. Additionally, future studies could examine the impact of variables like neuroticism, which influences how individuals perceive critical life events.
“In conclusion, the results can explain the occurrence of nightmare distress properly and confirm previous findings,” the study authors wrote. “The emotional appraisal has a substantial influence on nightmares. This suggests that dreamers can influence their dream experiences due to their reappraisal during the dream or probably also in waking-life. Further research is needed to investigate treatment methods for nightmares and the traits and states that are associated with a sufficient learning effect.”
Overall, the study provides crucial insights into the factors that contribute to nightmare distress, and could inform future interventions aimed at alleviating the distress of those experiencing nightmares.
