Nightmare frequency mediates the association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation among youth: is it sex-specific?
Jianyu Que, Yan’e Lu, Jingrou Liu, Lei Shi, Suying Wu, Ciping You, Xiao Chen, Farong Liu, Jiajia Liu
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience November 17, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-025-02149-y (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 3,431 |
| Population | Youth recruited from Fujian Province, China |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Suicidal ideation Association psychology Mediation Poison control Injury prevention Clinical psychology Suicide prevention Adolescent suicide Intervention counseling |
| Key findings | Nightmare frequency significantly mediated the association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation, accounting for 4.11% of the total effect. |
Abstract
Childhood trauma has been found to be associated with suicidal ideation among youth. However, the underlying processes that link childhood trauma and suicidal ideation are unclear. This study investigates the role of nightmare frequency in the association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation, and the potential moderating effect of sex. Youths were recruited from Fujian Province, China. Childhood trauma was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the frequency of nightmares and suicidal ideation were also evaluated. Moderated mediation analyses were conducted with childhood trauma as the independent variable, suicidal ideation as the dependent variable, nightmare frequency as the mediator variable, and sex as the moderator. All statistical analyses were performed in R (version 4.2.3). A total of 3431 individuals completed all the questions assessing childhood trauma, nightmare frequency, and suicidal ideation. Among them, 28.6% reported having experienced suicidal ideation in the past 12 months. Additionally, 25.9% of participants reported frequent nightmares. The association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation was significantly mediated by nightmare frequency, with an effect size of 0.003 (bootstrap 95%CI: 0.001, 0.005). The indirect effects accounted for approximately 4.11% of the overall effect. However, there was no statistically significant moderating effect of sex on the association between childhood trauma and nightmare frequency. The findings of this study suggest that treating nightmares may serve as a promising intervention target for addressing suicidal ideation in youth with a history of childhood trauma, irrespective of sex.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insomnia Symptoms, Nightmares, and Suicidal Ideation in a College Student Sample Undergraduate students at a large, public university in the southeastern United States | 2011 | Observational cross-sectional survey | n = 583 |
| Prevalence and Correlates of Frequent Nightmares: A Community-Based 2-Phase Study Middle-aged Hong Kong Chinese adults from the community, mean age 40.9 years (SD 5.5,... | 2010 | Cross-sectional survey with subsequent clinical evaluation (two-phase design) | n = 8,558 |
| Factors of home dream recall: a structural equation model Adults (general population sample) | 2003 | Cross-sectional survey with structural equation modeling | n = 444 |
| 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 |
Citations in the library
Cites 10
- Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives Journal of Sleep Research January 29, 2019
- Longitudinal associations of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress with suicidal behavior in adolescents: mediating role of depressive symptoms Sleep July 2, 2020
- Longitudinal Study of Early Adversity and Disturbing Dream Frequency: Moderating Role of Early Negative Emotionality. Research on child and adolescent psychopathology February 2024
- Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Nightmare disorder index in adolescents. Stress and Health October 1, 2023
- Nightmares and psychiatric symptoms: A systematic review of longitudinal, experimental, and clinical trial studies. Clinical Psychology Review December 17, 2022
and 5 more in the library