Lucid dream frequency and knowledge about lucid dreaming in adolescents
International Journal of Dream Research 2025 DOI: 10.11588/ijodr.2025.2.112175 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 226 |
| Population | Adolescents aged 10 to 20 years |
| Topics | Dreaming Lucid dreaming |
| Key findings | About 53% of adolescents reported at least one lucid dream, with no age-related increase. Only one third knew what lucid dreams are. The authors propose future research on how adolescents learn about lucid dreaming and its potential benefits for nightmare coping. |
Abstract
Lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer is realizing that she/he is dreaming while dreaming; the prevalence of lucid dreaming in adults is about 55%. Relatively little is known about lucid dreaming in adolescents. In the present survey, 226 adolescents (144 female, 82 male) with an age range from 10 to 20 yrs. The findings indicate that the percentage of adolescents who report having had at least one lucid dream (about 53%) is comparable to previous studies; however, no increase in lucid dream prevalence with age was found. Only one third of the participants did know what lucid dreams are, even though some of them already experienced at least one lucid dream. Future research should focus on topics how adolescents learn about lucid dreaming and whether they can benefit from lucid dreaming, e.g., by coping with nightmares.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Phenomenology of Lucid Dreaming: An Online Survey Respondents to an online survey about lucid dreams | 2014 | Online survey | n = 684 |
| Frequency of Lucid Dreaming in a Representative German Sample Representative sample of German adults | 2011 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 919 |
| Lucid dreaming: an age‐dependent brain dissociation Students aged 6-19 years | 2012 | Survey | |
| Terror and bliss? Commonalities and distinctions between sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and their associations with waking life experiences Adults aged 18–82 years | 2016 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 1,928 |
| Increased Lucid Dreaming Frequency in Narcolepsy Patients diagnosed with narcolepsy and healthy control subjects | 2015 | Cross-sectional study | n = 979 |