Gender Differences in Childhood Maltreatment: A Comparative Study of Nightmare Sufferers and Non-sufferers.
Irum Khan, Imtiyaz Ahmad Dar, Samina Bano, Naved Iqbal
Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma January 5, 2021 DOI: 10.1007/s40653-020-00338-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 120 |
| Population | Adults in New Delhi, India, grouped as nightmare sufferers and non-sufferers |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Gender Nightmares Childhood maltreatment Abuse & neglect |
| Key findings | Nightmare sufferers reported higher rates of childhood abuse and neglect than non-sufferers, suggesting childhood maltreatment is associated with nightmares later in life. Males generally reported more childhood maltreatment than females, but emotional abuse was reported by males only within the nightmare sufferer group. |
Abstract
Child maltreatment has been identified as a significant problem, both within India and outside. According to UNICEF, over the last decade, there has been a growing recognition about this, but the problem has remained unresolved largely due to being underreported and undocumented. Previous research in this area has reported inconsistent gender differences across the world. Besides, there are shreds of evidence to suggest that childhood maltreatment would be associated with nightmares later in life, but a handful of studies exist in this context. Moreover, there is a paucity of research concerning the interaction effect of gender and group (nightmare sufferer vs non-sufferer) on childhood maltreatment. Owing to the insufficient research and inconsistent findings, the present study aimed to investigate gender differences in childhood maltreatment among nightmare sufferers as compared to non-sufferers. A total of 120 participants were selected from New Delhi. The results of two-way ANOVA suggest that the nightmares later in life would be associated with the abuse and neglect experienced during childhood as nightmare sufferer group reported having higher rates of child abuse and neglect than non-sufferers. It also suggests that male participants in general experience childhood maltreatment more than females; however, emotional abuse was experienced by males only if they belonged to the nightmare sufferer group.
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 |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Sleep 2002
- Measuring nightmare and bad dream frequency: impact of retrospective and prospective instruments Journal of Sleep Research May 13, 2008
- Early childhood adversity associations with nightmare severity and sleep spindles. Sleep Medicine April 1, 2019
- The Stress Acceleration Hypothesis of Nightmares. Frontiers in Neurology June 1, 2017
- Nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, and psychopathology in female victims of childhood maltreatment. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease September 1, 2013
and 2 more in the library