Alexithymia and dream recall upon spontaneous morning awakening.
Luigi De Gennaro, Michele Ferrara, Riccardo Cristiani, Giuseppe Curcio, Valentina Martiradonna, Mario Bertini
Psychosomatic Medicine March 1, 2003 DOI: 10.1097/01.psy.0000058373.50240.71 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort study Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Alexithymic and nonalexithymic women selected from 160 undergraduate students |
| Duration | 14 consecutive morning awakenings |
| Measures | Hall and Van de Castle coding system, sleep and dream diaries |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Humans Cohort studies Follow-up studies Prospective studies Affective symptoms Dreams Mental recall Arousal Wakefulness Pregnancy Adult Child Infant, newborn Female |
| Key findings | Alexithymic women showed lower dream recall frequency and shorter dream reports than nonalexithymic women over 14 days, while emotional valence, vividness, bizarreness, and Hall and Van de Castle emotion scores did not differ significantly between groups. The authors suggest this reflects a general difficulty in accessing or recalling dreams. |
Abstract
Objective: The issue of a quantitative and qualitative impoverishment of dream activity in alexithymic subjects was assessed by analysis of the 14-day dream reports of two groups of accurately selected alexithymic and nonalexithymic subjects.
Methods: Ten alexithymic and 10 nonalexithymic women were selected from a larger sample of 160 undergraduate students. The transcriptions of their audio-recorded dream reports on 14 consecutive morning awakenings were compared with regard to their length and emotional content. Self-ratings obtained from sleep and dream diaries were further considered to assess between-groups differences in dream recall frequency and in the emotional valence, vividness, and bizarreness of dreams.
Results: Dream recall frequency and mean length of dream reports were lower in alexithymic than in nonalexithymic subjects. There were no significant between-groups differences in emotional valence, vividness, bizarreness, and emotions scored according to the Hall and Van de Castle coding system.
Conclusions: The results suggest a general difficulty of alexithymics in accessing (recalling) their dreams.
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 |
| The prevalence of nightmares and their independence from anxiety. Undergraduates | 1990 | Observational study using daily dream logs | n = 220 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 19
- Amygdala and hippocampus volumetry and diffusivity in relation to dreaming Human Brain Mapping August 25, 2010
- Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives Frontiers in Psychology 2011
- Spotlight on dream recall: the ages of dreams Nature and Science of Sleep 2018
- Dreaming correlates of alexithymia among sleep-disordered patients. Dreaming March 1, 2011
- The Oneiric Activity during and after the COVID-19 Total Lockdown in Italy: A Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health March 24, 2022
and 14 more in the library
Cites 6
- On the Psychometric Properties of Retrospective Dream Content Questionnaires Imagination Cognition and Personality June 1, 1996
- California Women and Their Dreams: A Historical and Sub-Cultural Comparison of Dream Content Imagination, Cognition and Personality September 1, 1990
- Dream process in asthmatic subjects with nocturnal attacks American Journal of Psychiatry May 1, 1987
- Alexithymia and impoverished dream content: evidence from rapid eye movement sleep awakenings. Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2000
- The relationship of alexithymia characteristics to dreaming. Journal of Psychosomatic Research June 2000
and 1 more in the library