Skip to content

Comparison of Dream Themes, Emotions and Sleep Parameters between Nightmares and Bad Dreams in Nightmare Sufferers

Ruda Lee, Sooyeon Aly Suh

Journal of Sleep Medicine December 30, 2016 DOI: 10.13078/jsm.16010 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study using daily self-report diaries Peer reviewed
Sample size 24
Population Nightmare sufferers with clinical levels of nightmares (Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index scores of 10 or higher)
Duration Two weeks of daily recording
Measures Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index, modified version of the Typical Dreams Questionnaire
Topics Dreaming
Citations 2
Key findings Nightmares and bad dreams differed in content and emotional intensity: nightmares more often involved an evil presence (35%) and bad dreams more often interpersonal conflicts (31%), and nightmares were rated substantially more emotionally intense, with fear significantly higher. Sleep parameters did not differ between nightmare and bad dream nights, though both differed from other days. The authors suggest nightmares may be qualitatively and quantitatively distinct from bad dreams.

Abstract

Objectives: The current study aimed to explore the difference of dream themes, emotional intensity, and sleep parameters between nightmares and bad dreams in nightmare sufferers.Methods: Twenty-four nightmare sufferers who endorsed clinical levels of nightmares (Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index Scores ≥10) recorded daily information about their dream themes using a modified version of the Typical Dreams Questionnaire, emotional intensity about their nightmares and bad dreams, and sleep for two weeks on a mobile device.Results: Evil presence (35%) was reported with higher frequency in nightmares, whereas interpersonal conflicts (31%) were predominantly reported in bad dreams.Nightmares were rated substantially more emotionally intense than bad dreams.Especially, fear (Z=-2.118,p=0.034) was rated as being significantly higher in nightmares than bad dreams.There were differences on time in bed, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency on the days with nightmares or bad dreams compared to other days; however, there were no differences in sleep parameters between nightmares and bad dreams.Conclusions: The results suggest that nightmares may be qualitatively and quantitatively different from bad dreams in nightmare sufferers. J Sleep Med 2016;13(2):53-59

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

Citations in the library

Cited by 1

Cites 17

and 12 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Dreaming