Evaluating the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation, Mood and Distressing Dreams Using Daily Sleep Diary Reports in Trauma Survivors
Journal of Sleep Research April 3, 2025 Nadia Malek, Anthony Santistevan, Leslie Yack et al. 2 citations
Among trauma-exposed veterans and civilians, poor mood before bed increases the risk of having at least one distressing dream, which in turn leads to poor mood the following morning. That negative mood carries over into the next evening, further raising the risk of another distressing dream. Individuals with better emotion regulation have a lower incidence of distressing dreams and better mood on average, after adjusting for sex, age, and PTSD severity. The findings suggest that mood and distressing dreams form a bidirectional cycle, and that emotion regulation abilities may help mitigate this risk.