Pandemic Dreams: Network Analysis of Dream Content During the COVID-19 Lockdown
A. Pesonen, J. Lipsanen, R. Halonen, M. Elovainio, Nils Sandman, J. Mäkelä, Minea Antila, Denis Béchard, Hanna M. Ollila, L. Kuula
Frontiers in Psychology October 1, 2020 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.573961 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 4,275 |
| Population | Crowdsourcing respondents during COVID-19 lockdown |
| Duration | 1 week |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | COVID-19 lockdown increased sleep duration, awakenings, and nightmares, with pandemic-specific bad dream contents emerging in dream-association networks. |
Abstract
We used crowdsourcing (CS) to examine how COVID-19 lockdown affects the content of dreams and nightmares. The CS took place on the sixth week of the lockdown. Over the course of 1 week, 4,275 respondents (mean age 43, SD = 14 years) assessed their sleep, and 811 reported their dream content. Overall, respondents slept substantially more (54.2%) but reported an average increase of awakenings (28.6%) and nightmares (26%) from the pre-pandemic situation. We transcribed the content of the dreams into word lists and performed unsupervised computational network and cluster analysis of word associations, which suggested 33 dream clusters including 20 bad dream clusters, of which 55% were pandemic-specific (e.g., Disease Management, Disregard of Distancing, Elderly in Trouble). The dream-association networks were more accentuated for those who reported an increase in perceived stress. This CS survey on dream-association networks and pandemic stress introduces novel, collectively shared COVID-19 bad dream contents.
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
Cited by 36
- Pandemic Nightmares: COVID-19 Lockdown Associated With Increased Aggression in Female University Students' Dreams Frontiers in Psychology March 5, 2021
- The impact of the end of COVID confinement on pandemic dreams, as assessed by a weekly sleep diary: a longitudinal investigation in Italy. Journal of Sleep Research February 1, 2022
- The Language of Dreams: Application of Linguistics-Based Approaches for the Automated Analysis of Dream Experiences Clocks & Sleep September 19, 2021
- Nightmare content during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Influence of COVID‐related stress and sleep disruption in the United States Journal of Sleep Research August 18, 2021
- Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study. Brain Sciences October 20, 2021
and 31 more in the library
Cites 8
- Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives Journal of Sleep Research January 29, 2019
- Prevalence and Correlates of Frequent Nightmares: A Community-Based 2-Phase Study Sleep June 1, 2010
- Methodological issues affecting the collection of dreams Journal of Sleep Research March 1, 1993
- The neural correlates of dreaming. Nature Neuroscience April 10, 2017
- Thematic and content analysis of idiopathic nightmares and bad dreams. Sleep February 1, 2014
and 3 more in the library