The Relationship between Nightmare Experience and Athletes’ Personality Traits and Anxiety
Youteng Gan, Ruohang Wang, Jiangang Li, Xueyu Wang, Hongying Fan
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health October 8, 2022 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191912900 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 277 |
| Population | 187 athletes (mean age 20.44 years, 91 females, 96 males) and 90 non-athletes (mean age 20.34 years, 52 females, 38 males) who reported having nightmares |
| Topics | Anxiety Dreaming |
| Keywords | Athletes Neuroticism Clinical psychology Personality Physical therapy |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Anxiety, neuroticism, and sensation seeking positively predicted athletes' nightmare experiences. |
Abstract
Objective: Frequent nightmare behavior or deep nightmare experiences may harm the physical and mental health and performance of athletes. This study explores the nightmare experiences of athletes, and includes non-athletes with similar experiences for comparison.
Methods: The Nightmare Experience Questionnaire (NEQ); Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire, Shortened Form (ZKA-PQ/SF); and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) were used. The subjects were 187 athletes (mean age = 20.44 years, SD = 0.85; 91 females, 96 males) and 90 non-athletes (mean age = 20.34 years, SD = 1.65; 52 females, 38 males) who reported having nightmares.
Results: A total of 87 athletes (46.5%) reported having nightmare experiences. The athlete nightmare group scored significantly higher in neuroticism than the non-nightmare group, and their anxiety scores were significantly higher than those of non-athletes, who scored higher in aggressiveness, neuroticism, and sensation seeking. Moreover, anxiety, neuroticism, and sensation seeking positively predicted athletes' nightmare experiences.
Conclusions: Personality traits and anxiety levels can be effectively applied to predict athletes' nightmare experiences.
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 3
- Nightmares in Swiss elite athletes: Associated factors Journal of Sleep Research July 1, 2024
- A graph theory approach to chart the architecture of dream and mind-wandering reports Communications Psychology October 11, 2026
- Who benefits more from mindfulness? A preliminary study exploring moderating effect of personality traits on competition anxiety in athletes International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching March 2, 2023
Cites 16
- The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Journal of Sleep Research May 26, 2004
- Prevalence and Correlates of Frequent Nightmares: A Community-Based 2-Phase Study Sleep June 1, 2010
- Dream content and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study of the continuity hypothesis Journal of Clinical Psychology 2005
- Prevalence and Detailed Experience of Nightmare and Nightmare Disorder in Chinese University Students Sage Open April 1, 2021
- Nightmare Distress Questionnaire: associated factors. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 2021
and 11 more in the library