Lockdown dreams: Dream content and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic in an italian sample.
G. Giovanardi, Alice Fiorini Bincoletto, R. Baiocco, Martina Ferrari, Daniela Gentile, Mauro Siri, A. Tanzilli, V. Lingiardi
Psychoanalytic psychology September 27, 2021 DOI: 10.1037/pap0000385 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDuring Italy's three-month COVID-19 lockdown starting March 2020, an online survey of 598 participants aged 18–70 (mean 30.9) collected dream reports and measures of sleep quality, anxiety, depression, rumination, and fear of contagion. Dream transcripts showed a predominance of negative emotions, especially fear, fright, terror, anxiety, anguish, and preoccupation. Content analysis revealed themes of relationships, the human and natural environment, and COVID-19. The findings support the continuity hypothesis: dreams reflect the emotional concerns of the dreamer and help integrate intense waking-life emotions.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey with quantitative and qualitative analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 598 |
| Population | Italian adults aged 18–70 years |
| Keywords | Psychology |
| Key finding | Dreams during the lockdown predominantly contained negative emotions, especially fear and anxiety, and themes of relationships, environment, and COVID-19, supporting the continuity hypothesis. |
Abstract
Beginning in March 2020, the Italian population was subjected to a lockdown lasting approximately 3 months due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emergency. Drawing on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of dream data, the present study aimed at exploring the effects of social isolation and the lockdown on Italian people's dreams, focusing on content and dominating emotions. An online survey was administered to 598 participants who aged 18-70 years (M = 30.9, SD = 10.9). In the survey, participants were asked to: (a) write down two dreams they had during the lockdown and (b) provide data on demographic and socioeconomic factors;sleep quality before and after lockdown;and levels of anxiety, depression, and rumination. Questions also explored participants' perceived fear of contagion, dream recall frequency (DRF), and dream vividness. Participants' dream transcripts revealed a majority of negative emotions-particularly fear/fright/terror and anxiety/anguish/preoccupation. Moreover, several themes emerged from the content analysis, including relationships, the human and natural environment, and COVID-19. The results deepen our understanding of the dominant dream emotions of people experiencing a collective stressful event, such as the social isolation necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the findings support the continuity hypothesis, which holds that dreams tend to reflect the emotional concerns of the dreamer and help to integrate intense or disruptive emotions experienced during waking life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)