Phenomenal qualities of nightmare experience in a prospective study of college students.
Dreaming June 1, 2002 DOI: 10.1023/a:1015315707100 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 116 |
| Population | 63 frequent nightmare individuals and 53 controls |
| Duration | 21 consecutive nights |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Citations | 26 |
| Key findings | Nightmare prevalence was unrelated to state-based ratings of nightmare experience, including concurrent distress, but was significantly associated with a global measure of nightmare distress. Global ratings of saliency showed greater predictive validity than concurrent ratings, suggesting that reports of nightmares relate more to global views of dreaming than to the actual nightmare experience. |
Abstract
The present study investigated the relationship between both state and global measures of phenomenal qualities of nightmare experience and nightmare prevalence as measured prospectively by dream logs. Sixty three frequent nightmare individuals and 53 controls completed a retrospective measure of their sleep and dreaming processes and kept a dreaming and nightmare log for 21 consecutive nights. Nightmare prevalence was unrelated to all three state-based rating dimensions including a concurrent rating of how distressing the actual nightmare was but was significantly associated with a global measure of nightmare distress. Similarly, global ratings of dream and nightmare saliency showed greater predictive validity than ratings of the same dimensions rated concurrently. The results suggest that whether a person reports having a nightmare on any given night is more associated with how they view their global dreaming processes than with the phenomenal qualities of the actual nightmare itself.