Development of a Structure-Validated Nightmare Experience Questionnairein Chinese University Students
Wanzhen Chen, You Xu, Ming Zhu, Yixin Tang, Shenyu Huang, Hongjing Mao, Jian Liu, Wei Wang
September 30, 2014 DOI: 10.4172/psychiatry.1000147 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA new questionnaire called the Nightmare Experience Questionnaire (NEQ) was developed and tested in 321 Chinese university students who had lifelong nightmare experiences. The NEQ measures four distinct factors of nightmare experience: Physical Effect, Negative Emotion, Meaning Interpretation, and Horrible Stimulation. A 20-item version (five items per factor) showed the best statistical fit. Nightmare frequency was positively linked to all four factors. Women scored higher than men on the Negative Emotion and Meaning Interpretation factors. The questionnaire may aid understanding of psychiatric disorders involving emotional dysregulation, particularly in women.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Questionnaire development and validation study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 321 |
| Population | Chinese university students with lifelong nightmare experience |
| Keywords | Psychology |
| Key finding | A 20-item Nightmare Experience Questionnaire with four factors (Physical Effect, Negative Emotion, Meaning Interpretation, Horrible Stimulation) was validated, and women scored higher on Negative Emotion and Meaning Interpretation than men. |
Abstract
Background: Nightmare experience is associated with a broad spectrum of psychopathology, however, there lacks a structure-validated questionnaire to measure the effects of nightmare contents on the physical, psychological and behavioral aspects. Methods: Based on the clinical manifestation and previous documentation, we have designed a matrix of 95 items to measure the nightmare contents, plus one item to measure the nightmare frequency, and trialed them in 160 male and 161 female Chinese university students who have had a life-long nightmare experience. Results: After both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we have found four factors regarding the nightmare experience, namely Physical Effect, Negative Emotion, Meaning Interpretation and Horrible Stimulation. The fit of 20-item model (five top-loading items each factor) has proven to be the best structure. Together with an item measuring frequency, the model, called Nightmare Experience Questionnaire (NEQ), was retained for further analyses. The nightmare frequency was positively correlated with all the four NEQ factors, and women scored significantly higher on NEQ Negative Emotion and Meaning Interpretation factors than men did. Conclusion: The NEQ might help to understand some psychiatric disorders, especially those with the awaking emotional deregulation in women.