The Dream Experience and Its Relationship with Morning Mood in Adolescents Hospitalized after a Suicide Attempt

Adolescents hospitalized after a suicide attempt reported more frequent nightmares, more negative mood before sleep, during dreams, and in the morning, and dream content with more destructive themes, failures, self-directed aggression, and death-related aggression compared to matched non-suicidal adolescents. In suicidal adolescents, only negative dream mood predicted morning mood, whereas in normative adolescents both positive and negative dream mood predicted subsequent waking affect. The findings suggest that nightmare-reducing therapies could benefit suicidal adolescents who experience frequent nightmares.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Suicidality in adolescents has been associated with emotional distress, stressful life events, relationship issues, and nightmares to name a few. This study explored the actual dream content and the mood at pre-sleep, during a reported dream, and in the morning in 33 adolescents admitted to the hospital on account of a suicide attempt. In all aspects, hospitalized adolescents were compared to 33 matched adolescents who had followed the same protocol. In accordance with the Continuity and the Threat Simulation theories of dream formation, it was hypothesized that the waking-life experiences of suicidal adolescents would transpire in both dream mood and content as well as in the frequency of nightmares. Dreams were analyzed by independent judges using traditional dream content scales, including for the presence of negative and destructive themes and types of interpersonal relationships. As predicted, more suicidal adolescents experienced frequent nightmares, which was significant. A higher negative mood at pre-sleep, within dreams, and at post-sleep was also observed. Furthermore, their dreams contained a higher prevalence of destructive themes and failures, as well as self-directed and death-resulting aggressions. Regression analyses indicated that morning mood was most accurately predicted by positive and negative dream mood in the normative adolescents, whereas only negative dream mood appeared to predict subsequent waking affect in suicidal participants. Our results underline the valuable potential of implementing nightmare-reducing therapies in the presence of suicidal adolescents who suffer from frequent nightmares.