Depressed Mood, Dream Recall and Contentless Dreams
Paul R. Robbins, Roland H. Tanck
Imagination, Cognition and Personality October 1, 1988 DOI: 10.2190/257x-2v80-hrwy-v8da (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 90 |
| Population | College students |
| Duration | 10-day period |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Key findings | Depressed mood was higher preceding nights with recalled and described dreams than nights without dream recall, while mood was lower preceding contentless dream reports than nights without dream memory. |
Abstract
The study examined the relation between depressed mood and dream report. Levels of depressed mood were assessed nightly on a sample of ninety college students over a ten-day period using a structured diary. Dream reports were obtained each morning during the ten-day period. Depressed mood tended to be higher preceding nights for which dreams were recalled and described than for nights in which there was no memory of dreaming. The opposite pattern was found for reports of contentless dreams; depressed mood tended to be lower preceding reports of contentless dreaming than for nights in which there was no memory of dreaming.