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Frequency of nightmares and gender significantly predict distressing dreams of German athletes before competitions or games.

Daniel Erlacher, Felix Ehrlenspiel, Michael Schredl

The Journal of Psychology 2011 DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2011.574166 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Survey Peer reviewed
Sample size 840
Population German athletes from various sports
Duration 12-month recall period
Topics Dreaming
Key findings About 15% of 840 German athletes reported at least one distressing dream in the 12 months before an important competition, and a similar proportion reported one during their sports career; distressing dreams occurred in roughly 3% of events and mainly depicted athletic failure. The authors report that the frequency of nightmares in general appears to be the main risk factor.

Abstract

Important sports events are highlights and stressful situations in every athlete's career. This stress might alter the dream content of athletes and consequently evoke disturbed dreaming. In this study, the authors asked 840 German athletes from various sports about distressing dreams on the nights before an important competition or game. About 15% of the athletes stated that they experienced at least 1 distressing dream before an important competition or game during the preceding 12 months. An almost equal number of athletes reported at least 1 distressing dream in their sports career. With respect to the base rate, in about 3% of the events a distressing dream occurred. Reported dream content referred mainly to athletic failure. The main risk factor for an athlete experiencing a distressing dream before a competition appears to be the frequency of experienced nightmares in general. Future research should use diary techniques to study the impact of distressing dreams on the next-day athletic performance in a competition or game.

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

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