Emotion regulation as reflected in children’s dreams – a developmental test of the neurocognitive dream theory
Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika June 1, 2016 Piroska Sándor, Sára Szakadát, Róbert Bódizs
Children aged 4 to 8 years who have more emotional problems tend to report more dreams, and the negative quality of their dreams and the effect of dreams on daytime mood are linked to poorer emotional adaptation as measured by parent-reported behavioral difficulties. However, no relationship was found between the emotions children experience in their dreams and their waking emotional processing abilities. These findings partially support the idea that dreams play a role in emotional regulation during development, consistent with the neurocognitive dream theory proposed by Nielsen and Levine.