What are sleep-related experiences? Associations with transliminality, psychological distress, and life stress.
Nirit Soffer-Dudek, Golan Shahar
Consciousness and Cognition December 1, 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2008.07.007 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractSleep-related experiences, such as nightmares, lucid dreams, and problem-solving dreams, are distinct from other altered-consciousness tendencies like dissociation and transliminality. Transliminality—a trait involving heightened sensitivity to subconscious material—predicted both general sleep-related experiences and lucid dreaming over time. Psychological distress and increased life stress predicted a rise in general sleep-related experiences over a three-month period. The findings suggest that transliminality contributes to individual differences in sleep experiences, while general sleep experiences result from psychological distress and life stress.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Longitudinal study Cross-sectional Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Young adults |
| Duration | 3-month interval |
| Key finding | Transliminality predicted general sleep-related experiences and lucid dreams, while psychological distress and increased life stress predicted an increase in general sleep-related experiences over three months. |
Abstract
Sleep-related experiences [Watson, D. (2001). Dissociations of the night: Individual differences in sleep-related experiences and their relation to dissociation and schizotypy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 526-535] refer to a host of nocturnal altered-consciousness phenomena, including narcoleptic tendencies, nightmares, problem-solving dreams, waking dreams, and lucid dreams. In an attempt to clarify the meaning of this construct, we examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of sleep-related experiences (SREs), altered-consciousness tendencies (i.e., dissociation and transliminality), psychological distress, childhood maltreatment (i.e., abuse and neglect), and life stress in young adults. Both types of SREs (general SREs and lucid dreaming) were found to be distinguishable from altered-consciousness tendencies. Transliminality emerged as a longitudinal predictor of both general SREs and lucid dreams. Psychological distress and an increase in life stress predicted an increase in general SREs over a 3-month interval. We conclude that transliminality is a general altered-consciousness trait that accounts for some of the individual differences in sleep-related experiences, and that general sleep experiences are an outcome of psychological distress and life stress.