The mediation effects of nightmares and depression between insomnia and suicidal ideation in young adults
Zixuan Guo, Xiaoli Han, Tiantian Kong, Yan Wu, Yimin Kang, Yanlong Liu, Fan Wang
Scientific Reports April 26, 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58774-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 546 |
| Population | Young adults |
| Measures | Insomnia Severity Scale (ISI), Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Scale (DDNSI), Depression Study Scale (CESD-20), Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) |
| Topics | Depression Dreaming |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key findings | Nightmares and depression fully mediated the relationship between insomnia and suicidal ideation, with depression as a mediator (effect 0.22) and a chain mediation through nightmares and depression (effect 0.02). The authors propose that depression and nightmares are risk and predictive factors for SI in young adults. |
Abstract
Suicide is prevalent among young adults, and epidemiological studies indicate that insomnia, nightmares, and depression are significantly associated with a high incidence of suicidal ideation (SI). However, the causal relationship between these factors and SI remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between nightmares and depression and insomnia and SI in young adults, as well as to develop a mediation model to investigate the causal relationship between insomnia, nightmare, depression, and SI. We assessed insomnia, nightmares, depression, and SI in 546 young adults using the Insomnia Severity Scale (ISI), Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Scale (DDNSI), Depression Study Scale (CESD-20), and Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Using the Bootstrap method, the mediation effects of nightmares and depression between insomnia and SI were calculated. The results demonstrated that nightmares and depression fully mediated the relationship between insomnia and SI, including the chain-mediation of insomnia and SI between nightmare and depression with an effect value of 0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.04, and depression as a mediator between insomnia and SI with an effect value of 0.22, 95% CI 0.15-0.29. This study found that depression and nightmares may be risk and predictive factors between insomnia and SI, which implies that the assessment and treatment of depression and the simple or linked effect of nightmares play crucial roles in preventing SI in young adults.
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 2
Cites 10
- Insomnia Symptoms, Nightmares, and Suicidal Ideation in a College Student Sample Sleep 2011
- Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Sleep 2002
- Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives Journal of Sleep Research January 29, 2019
- Nightmares in the general population: identifying potential causal factors Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology July 15, 2017
- Psychometric properties of the Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index-Korean version. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine March 1, 2021
and 5 more in the library