A systematic review of Nightmare prevalence in children.
Sleep Medicine Reviews October 1, 2023 Elissar El Sabbagh, Aviva N Johns, Christy E Mather et al.
Nightmares affect between 1% and 11% of school-aged youth in the past week and 25% to 35% in the past month in general developmental samples, while rates are higher in psychiatric samples, ranging from 27% to 57% in the past week and 18% to 22% in the past month. Nightmare disorder prevalence is about 3% to 6% in developmental samples and 10% to 12% in psychiatric samples. Nightmare frequency peaks between ages 10 and 14, then declines with older age, and is generally higher in girls than boys, with gender divergence starting around age 14. Children's self-reports yield higher prevalence than parent reports, except in psychiatric samples where agreement is greater. Inconsistent definitions and measurement methods across studies highlight the need for standardized assessment.