Changes in manifest dream affect during psychoanalytic treatment.
Milton Kramer, Myron L Glucksman
The journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry January 1, 2006 DOI: 10.1521/jaap.2006.34.2.249 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAffect is central to understanding dreams, but it is unclear whether affective or narrative aspects drive dream development. In 24 patients who completed psychoanalytic treatment, affect appeared in 58.3% of manifest dream reports. The valence of affect became more positive over treatment, rising from 19.2% in the first dream report to 53.3% in the last. When affect was absent from a dream report, associations to the dream contained affect 94.1% of the time. Overall, affect was present in either the dream report or its associations 97.9% of the time. The positive shift in affect likely results from psychotherapy, though psychotropic medication (used by 46% of patients at the last dream report) and the passage of time may also contribute.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 24 |
| Population | Patients who had completed psychoanalytic treatment |
| Intervention | psychoanalytic treatment |
| Key finding | Affect became more positive in dream reports over the course of psychoanalytic treatment, and affect was almost always present when dream reports and their associations were considered together. |
Abstract
Affect is central to our understanding of many processes, including dreams. The question has been raised as to whether it is the affective or narrative aspect of dreaming that is central to its development. The purpose of the study is to assess the frequency and valence of affect in the manifest content of dream reports of patients in analytic therapy and if affect is absent to assess the frequency and valence of affect in the associations to the dream reports without affect [MK1]. The presence and valence of affect was evaluated in the first and last manifest dream report of 24 patients who had completed psychoanalytic treatment. If no affect was found, the dream associations were examined for affect and valence. Affect was found in 58.3% of dream reports. The valence of affect in dream reports became more positive during the course of treatment from 19.2% in the first manifest dream report to 53.3% in the last. The associations to the dream reports without affect had affect 94.1% of the time. Affect was present in either the dream report or the associations to it 97.9% of the time. The positive change in affect is most likely the result of psychotherapeutic treatment, although the psychotropic medication 46% of the patients were on at the time of the last dream report and the passage of time may also be factors. The centrality of affect in dream formation and interpretation is supported if the view of the dream experience includes the associations to the dream report.