Dreaming and Sleep-Related Metacognitions in Patients with Sleep Disorders.
Michael Schredl, Claudia Schilling
Clocks & Sleep September 1, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/clockssleep4030034 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDysfunctional sleep-related metacognitions (thoughts about one's own thinking during sleep) are linked to more negatively toned dreams and nightmares, even after accounting for a person's general tendency to become aroused. In a study of 919 patients with sleep disorders, those who scored higher on a measure of sleep-related metacognitions reported more nightmares and more negative dream emotions. The effect of metacognitions was small, while the effect of trait arousability was medium. The findings suggest that metacognitive therapy, which targets these sleep-related thoughts, might also improve dream quality by reducing nightmares and increasing positive dream emotions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 919 |
| Population | Patients with various sleep disorders |
| Duration | Seven days |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Nightmares Sleep-related metacognitions |
| Key finding | Dysfunctional sleep-related metacognitions are associated with more frequent nightmares and more negatively toned dream emotions, even after controlling for trait arousability. |
Abstract
Sleep-related metacognitions play a role in the etiology of insomnia and are distressing while falling asleep. Although similar concepts, such as thought suppression, have been studied in the context of dreaming, the relationship between sleep-related metacognitions and more negatively toned dreaming due to stressful pre-sleep experiences has yet to be studied. Overall, 919 patients with various sleep disorders completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire-Insomnia (MCQ-I20), Arousal Disposition Scale (APS), and Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS) and kept a sleep diary over seven days eliciting dream recall, nightmare frequency, and the emotional tone of their dreams. The regression analysis showed that the MCQ-I20 (small effect size) and the APS (medium effect size) were associated with nightmare frequency and negatively toned dream emotions. These findings suggest that dysfunctional sleep-related metacognitions that are active prior to sleep are also associated with more negatively toned dreaming and more nightmares-even after controlling for trait arousability. It would be very interesting to study where therapeutic strategies, such as metacognitive therapy explicitly targeting sleep-related metacognition, could also be beneficial with regard to dreams (more positive dreams and fewer nightmares).