Relations among Nightmare Frequency and Ego Strength, Death Anxiety, and Sex of College Students
Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 1989 DOI: 10.1177/00315125890693-208 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Undergraduates |
| Topics | Anxiety Dreaming Ego dissolution |
| Key findings | Nightmare frequency was associated with lower ego strength but not with death anxiety; a negative correlation between death anxiety and ego strength was strongest in women with high nightmare frequency. |
Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate empirically the relationship between self-reports of nightmare frequency and ego strength and death anxiety in both men and women. In addition, the interrelations among these variables were assessed. 20 undergraduates with high frequencies of nightmares and 20 with low frequencies (10 men and 10 women per group) were administered the Barron Ego Strength Scale and a death anxiety scale. Significant differences were found between nightmare groups on the Barron scale for men and women but none on the death anxiety scale either by nightmare frequency or sex. A significant negative correlation of -.47 between death anxiety and ego strength was found for women and in one high frequency group. Women with high frequencies of nightmares showed the highest correlation, -.83. These data suggest that nightmare frequency may be a mediating factor in the relationship between ego strength, death anxiety, and sex of subject.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Sleep 2002
- The Nightmare Proneness Scale: A Proposed Measure for the Tendency to Experience Nightmares Sleep and Hypnosis August 14, 2017
- The Relation of Fantasy Proneness, Psychological Absorption, and Imaginative Involvement to Nightmare Prevalence and Nightmare Distress Imagination, Cognition and Personality October 1, 2001