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Association Between Dreams, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms Among Japanese Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Y. Tanaka, Yuichiro Otsuka, Suguru Nakajima, Osamu Itani, Tomomi Miyoshi, Yoshitaka Kaneita

Clocks & Sleep June 26, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/clockssleep7030034 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed
Population Japanese high school students
Topics Anxiety
Keywords Bedtime Rumination Clinical psychology Mental health Odds ratio Psychological intervention Logistic regression Cross-sectional study Cognition
Citations 1
Key findings Rumination at bedtime and unpleasant dreams are strongly associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms among Japanese adolescents.

Abstract

Worsening adolescent mental health is a significant social issue. Although dreams may reflect one's mental state, few studies have focused on adolescents. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between dream content and mental health, specifically anxiety disorder and depressive symptoms, among Japanese adolescents. This cross-sectional study obtained data on gender, grade, age, lifestyle habits, weekday sleep duration, anxiety disorder symptoms, depressive symptoms, and dreams from Japanese high school students. The data were analyzed via multiple logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms increased with the frequency of "rumination at bedtime", "memory of dreams", "emotional carryover", and "awakening by frightening", "unpleasant", "film-like", "fantastical", and "recurring" dreams. However, this was not the case for "pleasant dreams". Furthermore, "rumination at bedtime" (anxiety disorder symptoms: adjusted odds ratio: 10.60; 95% confidence interval: 5.92-18.97; depressive symptoms: 8.79, 5.58-13.87) and "unpleasant dreams" (anxiety disorder symptoms: 5.25, 2.86-9.64; depressive symptoms: 10.13, 5.57-18.44) exhibited particularly high odds ratios. "Rumination at bedtime" and "unpleasant dreams" may serve as early indicators of declining mental health. School- and parent-led interventions aimed at improving mental well-being may help prevent the progression or exacerbation of anxiety and depressive symptoms among adolescents.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on anxiety, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Psychological flexibility mediates the relations between acute psychedelic effects and subjective decreases in depression and anxiety. International sample of people who reported having used a psychedelic 2020 Cross-sectional survey n = 985
The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms Internet survey respondents reporting challenging experiences with psilocybin 2016 Questionnaire development and validation
Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study Adult population in the United States 2013 Cross-sectional survey n = 130,152
Ecstasy/MDMA attributed problems reported by novice, moderate and heavy recreational users Ecstasy users who participated in a WWW study of recreational drug use 2002 Cross-sectional survey n = 282
5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) used in a naturalistic group setting is associated with unintended improvements in depression and anxiety. Adults who used 5-MeO-DMT in a group setting with structured procedures 2019 Cross-sectional survey n = 362

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