Validating Psychometric Questionnaires Using Experience-Sampling Data: The Case of Nightmare Distress
Stefan Stieger, T. Kuhlmann
Frontiers in Neuroscience December 5, 2018 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00901 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experience sampling study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 92 |
| Population | Participants recruited for an experience sampling study on dreams |
| Duration | 22 days, twice per day |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key points | Only the subscales 'general nightmare distress' and 'impact on sleep' showed convergent and divergent validity; the subscale 'impact on daily reality perception' had unclear validity, and all NDQ items did not differentiate between bad dreams and nightmares. |
Abstract
Nightmares are a comparatively frequent phenomenon. They are often accompanied by emotional distress and gain clinical relevance when recurrent. To assess how much distress nightmares cause the individual, the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ, Belicki, 1992) is probably the most often used measure. However, its validity is still disputed. To analyze the validity of the proposed three NDQ subscales in more detail, we conducted an experience sampling study, gathering data either in real-time or short retrospective timeframes over the course of 22 days twice per day (N = 92 participants). The measurements were implemented via a mobile app using participants’ own smartphones. Besides the dream quality, we assessed concepts on a daily basis that past research found to be related to dreams. These included critical life events, alcohol consumption, eating behavior, and well-being. We found that only the subscales “general nightmare distress” and “impact on sleep” showed convergent as well as divergent validity. The validity of the subscale “impact on daily reality perception” is unclear. If at all, this subscale is rather indirectly associated with nightmare distress. Furthermore, all of the NDQ items did not differentiate between a bad dream and a nightmare, which suggests that the NDQ might rather be a measure of negative dreams in general and not nightmares in particular. Based on the present experience sampling design, we propose to advance the validation process by further possibilities, such as an item-level, person-level, and multi-level approach. This approach seems to be especially fruitful for concepts which are not very salient (e.g., laughter), can hardly be remembered retrospectively (e.g., dream content), or are potentially threatened by recall biases (e.g., alcohol consumption).
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Healthy human subjects | 2018 | Observational cohort | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Psychometric Properties of the Nightmare Distress Questionnaire in Veterans with Posttraumatic Nightmares Behavioral Sleep Medicine September 12, 2026
- Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Nightmares Distress Questionnaire (NDQ-AV) in a community sample of adolescents. BMC Psychiatry August 9, 2024
- Factor Analysis and Validation of the Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index in an Inpatient Sample Behavioral Sleep Medicine February 25, 2024
- Posttraumatic sleep disturbances in veterans: A pilot randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and imagery rehearsal therapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology November 1, 2023
Cites 6
- Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Sleep 2002
- The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Journal of Sleep Research May 26, 2004
- Sleep spindle and psychopathology characteristics of frequent nightmare recallers. Sleep Medicine October 1, 2018
- Waking-hour cerebral activations in nightmare disorder: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences December 1, 2016
- Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: food and diet as instigators of bizarre and disturbing dreams. Frontiers in Psychology February 17, 2015
and 1 more in the library