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Assessing Triggers of Posttrauma Nightmares.

Westley Youngren, N. Hamilton, Kristopher J. Preacher

Journal of Traumatic Stress June 10, 2020 DOI: 10.1002/jts.22532 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational diary study (multilevel modeling) Peer reviewed
Sample size 27
Population Female college students reporting frequent nightmares related to sexual trauma, recruited from an undergraduate subject pool or as clinical referrals
Duration Six consecutive days of pre- and postsleep diaries
Measures pre- and postsleep diaries
Topics Dreaming
Key findings Presleep cognitive arousal and longer sleep latency each predicted posttrauma nightmare occurrence across six nights of diaries, and presleep cognitive arousal moderated the relationship between sleep latency and nightmare occurrence. The authors argue that the co-occurrence of presleep arousal and delayed sleep onset may influence whether a posttrauma nightmare occurs, pointing to the time immediately before sleep as important.

Abstract

Posttrauma nightmares are recurring nightmares that begin after a traumatic experience and can occur as often as multiple times per week, often in a seemingly random pattern. Although these nightmares are prevalent in trauma survivors, little is known about the mechanisms underlying their sporadic occurrence. The present study aimed to investigate predictors of posttrauma nightmares. The sample included 146 observations nested within 27 female college students who reported frequent nightmares related to sexual trauma. Participants were recruited from an undergraduate student subject pool (n = 71) or were clinical referrals (n = 75). Participants completed an initial assessment battery and six consecutive days of pre- and postsleep diaries, which included measures of potential posttrauma nightmare triggers and measures intended to assess sleep quality and posttrauma nightmare occurrence. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons, and multilevel modeling were used to examine the data. The results showed that both presleep cognitive arousal, γ10 SLij = 0.58, p = .006, z(1, N = 146) = -2.61; and sleep latency (SL), γ20 PCAij = 0.76, p < .001, z(1, N = 146) = -2.69, predicted posttrauma nightmare occurrence. Further investigation suggested that presleep cognitive arousal moderated the relation between SL and posttrauma nightmare occurrence, γ30 PCA x SLij = 0.67, p = .048 z(1, N = 146) = 1.98. The present results are the first to show that the co-occurrence of presleep arousal and delayed sleep onset latency may influence posttrauma nightmare occurrence, suggesting that the time immediately before sleep is crucial to the production of the posttrauma nightmares.

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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
Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Healthy human subjects 2018 Observational cohort n = 14

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