Abstract Introduction Nightmares are emotionally intense sleep disturbances linked to impaired emotion regulation and physiological arousal. Although stress sensitivity is theorized to increase vulnerability to nightmares, little research has examined whether specific HPA-axis indices, particularly the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR), predict nightmare frequency in non-clinical young adults....
Trauma exposure is a known risk for sleep disruption from both nightmares and insomnia. Informed by recent research proposing specific mechanisms linking trauma to sleep disruption and between nightmares and insomnia, (Werner et al. 2021), we tested a model in which the relationship between nightmares and insomnia was mediated by fear of sleep. Study participants were college-aged women (N=497;...