Nightmares in Swiss elite athletes: Associated factors
Journal of Sleep Research July 1, 2024 Michael Schredl, Albrecht Vorster, Michael J. Schmid et al. 1 citation
About 6% of elite athletes report having nightmares at least once a week. Female gender and higher general stress levels are strongly linked to more frequent nightmares. To a lesser degree, more training hours, lost training days due to illness, and early training sessions also relate to higher nightmare frequency. Sport discipline itself shows no connection. An unexpected finding is that consuming alcohol late—within four hours of bedtime—is associated with more nightmares. These results suggest that stress from sports participation may contribute to nightmare frequency. Future research should explore whether interventions for athletes with frequent nightmares could improve their well-being and possibly athletic performance.