Prevalence Rates of Frequent Dream Recall and Nightmares by Age, Gender and Sleep Duration in 16 Countries.
Courtney J Bolstad, Bjørn Bjorvatn, Ngan Yin Chan, Frances Chung, Yves Dauvilliers, Luigi De Gennaro, Colin A Espie, Brigitte Holzinger, Yuichi Inoue, Maria Korman, Adrijana Koscec Bjelajac, Anne-Marie Landtblom, Tainá Macêdo, Kentaro Matsui, Ilona Merikanto, Charles M Morin, Sérgio Mota-Rolim, Thomas Penzel, Giuseppe Plazzi, Catia Reis, Serena Scarpelli, Yun Kwok Wing, Michael R Nadorff
Journal of Sleep Research February 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1111/jsr.70070 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIn a large multi-country survey of 15,854 adults, frequent dream recall (at least weekly) was reported by 54.0% of participants in 2021 and 51.1% in 2019. Frequent nightmares rose from 6.9% in 2019 to 11.0% in 2021, suggesting an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dream recall showed a linear relationship with sleep duration, while nightmare frequency had a quadratic relationship. Prevalence rates varied by age, gender, and country. This is the first multi-continent study to provide these prevalence estimates across 16 countries, including some never studied before.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15,854 |
| Population | Adults aged 18-99 from 16 countries |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Covid‐19 Bad dreams Disturbing dreams |
| Key finding | Frequent nightmares increased from 6.9% in 2019 to 11.0% in 2021, while frequent dream recall was 54.0% in 2021 and 51.1% in 2019. |
Abstract
The present study aimed to describe the prevalence rates of frequent (i.e., at least weekly) dream recall and nightmares with consideration for differences in age, gender and sleep duration in 16 countries using equivalent assessment methods. The study sample included 15,854 participants (69.9% women) aged 18-99 years (M = 42.39, SD = 16.43) collected by the International COVID-19 Sleep Study collaboration, which used a unified online survey to collect data from May to November 2021 across 16 countries. Participants provided demographic information as well as self-reported estimates of their dream recall and nightmare frequency and sleep duration in 2021 and retrospectively for 2019. Frequent dream recall occurred in 54.0% of participants in 2021 and 51.1% in 2019. Frequent nightmares were reported by 11.0% of participants in 2021 and 6.9% in 2019. Ad hoc regression models found dream recall and sleep duration to have a linear relation, whereas nightmare frequency demonstrated a quadratic relation to sleep duration. Frequent dream recall and nightmare prevalence rates are reported for each of the 16 study countries by age, gender and sleep duration. This is the first multi-continent study to estimate frequent dream recall and nightmare prevalence, which both provides updated prevalence rates during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as extends existing knowledge to previously never studied countries.