Effect of exposure to terrorism on sleep-related experiences in Israeli young adults.

In the week after a military operation in Israel, 91 people reported their sleep experiences, psychological distress, and exposure to terror. General sleep-related experiences—such as vivid dreams, nightmares, and hallucinations when falling asleep—were more common among those who followed the events through media, and this link was explained by psychological distress. Unexpectedly, people who were physically closer to the attacks reported fewer such sleep experiences. The authors propose that sleep disturbances may reflect a tendency to ruminate, or difficulty letting go of thoughts both during the day and at night.

Study at a glance

Abstract

General sleep-related experiences (Watson, 2001), including special dream states such as elevated dream recall, nightmares, hypnagogic hallucinations, flying dreams, and waking dreams, have been shown to be associated with life stress and psychopathological distress (Soffer-Dudek & Shahar, 2009). In this study, we attempted to examine these associations within the context of terror-related stress. In the week following operation Oferet Yetzuka in Israel, ninety-one participants filled out questionnaires concerning sleep experiences, psychopathological distress, and degree of exposure to terror. These participants were part of a larger study conducted three years earlier (Soffer-Dudek & Shahar, 2009). General sleep experiences (GSEs) were positively correlated to exposure to terror through media, a link that was mediated through psychopathological symptoms. Surprisingly, GSEs were negatively correlated with physical exposure variables. We suggest that GSEs may be related to a ruminative coping style (i.e., not "letting go," both by day and by night).