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Dreaming correlates of alexithymia among sleep-disordered patients.

Tore Nielsen, Katia Levrier, Jacques Montplaisir

Dreaming March 1, 2011 DOI: 10.1037/a0022861 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed
Sample size 725
Population Sleep-disordered outpatients and nonclinical controls
Measures Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), 14-item Dreaming Questionnaire
Topics Dreaming
Citations 31
Key findings Alexithymia total score correlated positively with nightmare distress and negatively with dream recall in both clinical and nonclinical groups, and negatively with dream meaning in nonclinical participants. Subscales showed differential associations: DIF with increased nightmare distress, DDF with decreased dream recall, and EOT with decreased dream meaning.

Abstract

Increasing evidence supports the clinical view that alexithymia is associated with disturbed dreaming. However, a consistent, replicable pattern of relationships between alexithymia and different dreaming components has not yet been identified. Groups of sleep-disordered outpatients (N 580; 46.0 13.2 years) and nonclinical controls (N 145; 22.9 4.2 years) were administered the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and a 14-item Dreaming Questionnaire. Sleep diagnoses were assessed from polysomnography and clinical histories following the American Academy of Sleep Medicine classification system. The Dreaming Questionnaire was reduced by principal-components analysis to a 3-factor solution that distinguishes nightmare distress, dream recall, and dream meaning items. Factor coefficients were correlated with TAS total score and TAS subscales while age was controlled as a covariate. TAS total score was found to correlate positively with nightmare distress and negatively with dream recall for both clinical and nonclinical groups and for both men and women considered separately. TAS total score also correlated negatively with dream meaning for nonclinical participants. TAS subscales were differentially correlated with the 3 dream factors: difficulty identifying feelings (DIF) with increased nightmare distress, difficulty describing feelings (DDF) with decreased dream recall and externally oriented thinking (EOT) with decreased dream meaning. With some exceptions, these patterns were obtained independently for clinical and nonclinical groups and for men and women within these groups. Findings suggest a consistent and replicable pattern of relationships between alexithymia and dreaming components that implicates processes regulating emotion during both wakefulness and dreaming, for example, affect distress, expressive anxiety, and openness to experience.

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

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